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The Hindu
The Hindu
Sport
ANI

Australian Open Super 500 badminton championship: H.S. Prannoy misses out on title, bows out in final

India's ace shuttler H.S. Prannoy fell short in the finals match of the Australia Open 2023 men's singles title on Sunday in a dramatic fashion. 

World No. 24 Chinese shuttler Weng Hongyang had a hard-fought victory in a battle that lasted for three games. Hongyang started the game on a strong foot as he kept the Indian struggling for points. 

Prannoy found it hard to claim points and ended up losing the first game by 21-9. The drastic difference in the first game indicated that the Chinese shuttler would walk away with an easy victory in the finals. 

But Prannoy fought back with a different swagger in his game and bounced back to bring the game back to parity at 23-21. Prannoy used most of the momentum from the second game and led the third game for the majority of the time. He had a two-point lead advantage with the score reading 19-17.

Hongyang made a strong comeback to square the game level at 20-20. Hongyang held onto his nerves to claim the final two points and the Australia Open title by 22-20. 

Earlier in the tournament, Prannoy produced a fine performance at the Quaycentre Court 1 to defeat compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat in straight games in the semifinal.

Prannoy overwhelmed world No. 31 Rajawat 21-18, 21-12 to make his second final of the 2023 BWF season.

Both Indian shuttles Prannoy and Rajawat went toe-to-toe in the all-Indian semifinal encounter. As the match progressed, both Indian badminton players competed to gain an advantage.

With the scores tied at 18-all, Prannoy won three consecutive points to take the lead in the match.

Prannoy maintained his lead in the second game, racing to a 7-3 lead. Rajawat, on the other hand, won four consecutive points to tie the game at 7-all.

The 31-year-old Prannoy, on the other hand, stepped up his game and led 11-7 at the half. Prannoy crushed Rajawat, winning the match in 43 minutes.

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