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India's star shuttler HS Prannoy went down fighting in the men's singles final at the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Sunday. On the other hand, India's double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu brought the glory home to be crowned with Swiss Open title.
Prannoy suffered a 12-21, 18-21 defeat against Asian Games gold medallist and fourth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in a 48-minute summit clash to finish runner-up. Meanwhile, playing her second successive final in the tournament, Sindhu took 49 minutes to get the better of the fourth seeded Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-16, 21-8 at the St. Jakobshalle.
Prannoy, a former world number 8, finished a creditable second best after making his first final in the last five years.
The 29-year-old from Thiruvananthapuram has been grappling with multiple health issues after being diagnosed with a gastroesophageal reflux disease in 2018 and COVID-19 infection in 2019. In 2017, Prannoy became the first Indian badminton player to win the US Open Badminton Championships title. Also, at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal in the Mixed team event in Gold Coast, Australia.
On Sunday, Prannoy couldn't match the accuracy and power of Jonatan, who looked in complete control of the final.
The Indian looked competitive in the early part of the opening game as he quickly erased the early 1-4 deficit and moved to 5-5 but Jonatan pulled away from 8-8 to take a three-point cushion at the breather.
Prannoy was erratic while Jonatan looked rock solid in his defence as the Indonesian created a huge gap with a seven-point burst to grab seven game points. The Indian saved two before conceding the opening game.
The second game was a close affair as the duo moved together till 7-7 before Jonatan again opened up a 11-7 lead at the interval.
Prannoy was not able to sustain the pressure in the rallies, while Jonatan was composed and was rewarded more often for his cross court smashes and fine front-court play.
The Indian did well to claw his way back to 13-13 but a reversal slice helped Jonatan break the run of points.
The momentum shifted again as Jonatan led 19-14 with Prannoy committing a slew of errors. Another winner gave the Indonesian five championship point. Prannoy saved three before hitting the net.
