PV Sindhu seals Swiss Open crown; HS Prannoy’s dream run ends with loss to Jonatan Christie in final

PV Sindhu maintained her dominance over Busanan Ongbamrungphan to clinch the Swiss Open crown at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel on Sunday.

The world No.7 thumped the fourth seed from Thailand 21-16, 21-8 in the women’s singles summit clash that lasted 49 minutes. It was Sindhu’s 16th win over Busanan in 17 meetings, with her only loss coming at the 2019 Hong Kong Open.

However, HS Prannoy failed to make it a Super Sunday for Indian badminton fans, as the unseeded Indian lost the men’s singles final. Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie stopped Prannoy 21-12, 21-18 in 48 minutes. Prannoy had won the Swiss Open title in 2016.

Sindhu bags second BWF World Tour Super 300 title of season

Second seed Sindhu notched up her second Super 300 singles title of the season with a straight-games win over Busanan. The double Olympic medalist won the Syed Modi Super 300 International tournament a couple of months ago in Lucknow.

Playing her second successive Swiss Open final, Sindhu overcame a scratchy start, romping ahead 7-5 before Busanan fought back to make it 16-15. However, the 26-year-old Indian recovered quickly, taking the opening game 21-16.

The tall Hyderabadi was ruthless in the second game, streaking ahead 5-0 and not looking back. Using her height to great advantage, Sindhu led 11-2 at the mid-game interval. Busanan tried hard to reduce the deficit, but Sindhu made it 17-4 with some splendid smashes and solid defence before taking it 21-8.

Prannoy goes down fighting against fourth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia

With a couple of big wins in the tournament so far, expectations were high from HS Prannoy in the final. However, his sensational run was halted by fourth seed Jonatan Christie. The reigning Asian Games champion registered a hard-fought 21-12, 21-18 win over the world No.26 in 48 minutes.

The 2016 Swiss Open champion gave his best, but it was not enough against the world No.8. It was Christie’s fifth win over Prannoy in eight meetings. After losing the first game on Sunday, the 29-year-old offered stiff resistance in the second as he threatened a decider. Christie, though, raised his level of play to stop Prannoy in his tracks.