Singapore Open: Naraoka Ignores Rankings to March On
Being 24 places behind Prannoy H. S. on the BWF World Rankings mattered little to Kodai Naraoka as he scripted a come-from-behind win over the much more fancied Indian.
· PREM KUMAR
The 21-year-old lost 21-12 in the opener but kept his focus to take the next two, 21-14 21-18. Yesterday, the Japanese did the same in ousting fifth seed Jonatan Christie – a player ranked 35 spots above – bouncing back from an underwhelming opener to progress 21-7 21-18 21-15.
Naraoka’s mantra? “It doesn’t really matter the opponent’s world ranking, my job is to play my own game and do what I do best. That’s the most important thing.”
The world No.43’s sound preparation before the game also aided his progress.