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HS Prannoy delighted Indian badminton lovers on Sunday, May 28, with a 21-19, 13-21, 12-18 win over Weng Hong Yang to claim the Super 500 Malaysia Masters title in Kuala Lumpur. It was the World No. 9's first title on the BWF World Tour and his first individual international trophy in six years.
The only other time Prannoy had made it to any final on the current BWF World Tour was at the 2022 Swiss Open, where he went down against Jonatan Christie in straight games.
In the last few years, the Keralite had built a reputation for being just a giant slayer. He would regularly upset quite a few top names of the sport but would ultimately fail to convert those wins into a title. A series of injuries too didn't help his cause.
Seeing Prannoy finally string together the vital wins to lay his hands on a trophy at the age of 30 impressed badminton fans on social media. With the qualification period for the Paris Olympics 2024 having already started, this was indeed a crucial win for the Indian, as many of them pointed out.
Twitterati went abuzz with congratulatory messages pouring in for the India No. 1 men's singles shuttler right after his 94-minute battle against the 34th-ranked Weng Hong Yang.
Here are some of the best reactions:
HS Prannoy beat All England Open champion and World Championships medalist en route to Malaysia Masters glory
It hadn't been an easy week at all for HS Prannoy at the Malaysia Masters but he played some fearless brand of badminton under pressure to create history. Having lost to World No. 6 Chou Tien Chen just a little over a week ago at the Sudirman Cup, Prannoy needed to bring his best to the fore when they crossed swords again this week. This time, the Indian ran out a 16-21, 21-14, 21-13 winner over the 2022 World Championships bronze medalist.
Prannoy then upset the reigning All England Open champion Li Shi Feng 13-21, 21-16, 21-11. In the quarterfinals, he accounted for the 2018 Asian Games bronze medalist Kenta Nishimoto 25-23, 18-21, 21-13.
The 30-year-old then advanced to the final when giant-killer Christian Adinata retired while trailing 17-19 in the first game of their semifinal clash. In the summit clash, the Indian edged China's Weng Hong Yang, a 2022 Asian Championships bronze medalist, in three grueling games.
Prannoy's exceptional self-belief has now made him the first-ever Indian to win the men's singles title at the Malaysia Masters and the third Indian champion overall after PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. With some key tournaments lined up over the next few weeks, the World No. 9 will be keen to carry his rich vein of form forward.
