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Indian shuttler HS Prannoy endured a heartbreak at the Australian Open Badminton 2023 final in Sydney on Sunday (August 6), as he went down fighting against World No. 24 Weng Hong Yang of China.
The ninth-ranked Indian, who was seeded sixth at the Super 500 tournament, squandered a match point to suffer a 21-9, 21-23, 22-20 loss in a marathon that lasted 90 minutes.
Prannoy had been the comeback man all week. He started his campaign with a 21-18, 16-21, 21-15 win over Lee Cheuk Yiu in the first round before storming back to beat Chi Yu Jen 19-21, 21-19, 21-13. In the quarterfinals, the Keralite upset top seed and World No. 2 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 16-21, 21-17, 21-14.
HS Prannoy's only straight-game victory of the week came in the semifinals against younger compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat, whom he walloped 21-18, 21-12. That set him up against Weng Hong Yang, whom the 31-year-old had beaten in three grueling games to claim the Malaysia Masters title in May earlier this year.
The Chinese looked to have come prepared for revenge on Sunday in Sydney, even holding a match point in the second game. However, the fearless Prannoy saved it to extend the final to a decider.
The Indian then opened up a 19-14 gap only to see the resilient Weng Hong Yang inch his way back. With Prannoy leading 19-17, the two played a brutal 71-shot rally that left them both sinking on the floor. The Chinese then leveled the game and erased Prannoy's solitary match point on his way to victory.
The stupendous effort and the physical skills from both elicited reactions from badminton fans on Twitter. Many of them appreciated how much both of them put into that energy-sapping rally.
One said:
"Better now than in the WCH or @Paris2024 the positive is Prannoy proved how much he has got better physically."
Here are the best reactions:
BWF World Championships up next for HS Prannoy
The Australian Open ends what has been a hectic few weeks for HS Prannoy and the rest of the Indian contingent. The India No. 1 reached the quarterfinals of the Japan Open and the Round of 16 at the Korea Open in the last couple of weeks before his sojourn Down Under.
Up next is the prestigious BWF World Championships in Copenhagen from August 21-27. India's top shuttlers, including PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, will be battling it out with the best.
