Home
It was an emotional moment for HS Prannoy, who ended a long six-year period for a title when he beat China's Weng Hong Yang in the men's singles finals at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, May 28. The 30-year-old Indian was composed during a battle that lasted 94 minutes and secured a 21-19, 13-21, 21-18 victory over the world number 34 who is a 2022 Asian Championships bronze medallist.
The win also confirmed his maiden Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour title and the first singles crown of 2023 for India.
Prannoy played a key role during India's Thomas Cup victory in 2022 but he has failed to win an individual title since his 2017 US Open Grand Prix Gold. The Kerala shuttler had come close to breaking his title drought when he reached the finals at the Swiss Open in 2022 and signed off at the semifinal stage in Malaysia and the Indonesia Super 1000.
Prannoy has been India's most consistent shuttler but was not able to win a big title in the BWF World Tour events. In the Masters final, he went from 1-3 down but drew parity at 5-5 after lunging forward to put the shuttle away from Weng.
The Chinese stepped ahead but two wide shots meant it was 7-7. Prannoy would, at times, end rallies with a miscued shot at the net, allowing his younger rival to get into leads.
Prannoy then hit an erroneous patch, finding the net and also missing the lines, and suddenly, it became 16-10 in favour of Weng.
Frustration was writ large on the Indian's face as errors kept tumbling out of his racquet. Soon Weng grabbed seven-game points with a cross-court return and converted with a precise return on the backline to force a decider.
In the third game, Weng held on to his momentum even as Prannoy kept snapping at his feet at 6-8. A net kill helped the Indian draw level at 8-8 before Weng ended an exciting rally with a smash.
Another splendid rally ended with Prannoy producing another superlative shot at the net to bamboozle his opponent, as he went into the mid-game interval with a slender one-point lead.
After resumption, Prannoy unleashed his cross-court smashes to move to 14-11. Weng produced a precise smash and then targeted his rival's body twice to narrow it down to 13-14.
He kept his nerves and responded with a smash, leaving Weng on the floor. Another magical smash, which just kissed the lines, gave Prannoy two championship points, and he converted it after his opponent hit wide.
(With PTI Inputs)
MORE ON SPORTS TAK
HS Prannoy enters final, PV Sindhu loses in Malaysia Masters
Prannoy achieves career-best world no. 7 ranking, Treesa-Gayatri grab 15th spot
