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World No. 12 HS Prannoy ended his debut BWF World Tour Finals campaign on a high with a stunning 14-21, 21-17, 21-18 upset win over top-ranked Viktor Axelsen in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.
Unfortunately, for Prannoy, the win came too late. The Keralite had suffered 12-21, 21-9, 17-21 in his first round-robin match against World No. 14 Kodai Naraoka. Prannoy once again went close before falling 21-23, 21-17, 19-21 against 17th-ranked Lu Guangzu in his second group match of the tournament.
The two heartbreaking losses robbed the Indian of any chance of progressing into the semifinals in his maiden appearance at the prestigious season-ending championships.
However, the 30-year-old made up for it in style. He dug deep in his final match of the season to outshine the irrepressible Viktor Axelsen in three games.
Considering the Dane has been the indisputable leader of the tour this year with seven titles in his kitty, including the World Championships and the All-England Open, this was indeed a monumental achievement for Prannoy.
Interestingly, this was Prannoy's second consecutive win over the Olympic champion, having defeated him at the 2021 Indonesia Masters as well.
Twitter was on fire after the Indian's big win at the BWF World Tour Finals. While some praised Prannoy's giant-killing skills, others rued that it came too late.
Some tweeps also remarked that the Pullela Gopichand protégé always manages to bring forth his best against higher-ranked players but fails to replicate it against lower-ranked opponents.
Here are some of the best reactions:
"He controlled the conditions way better than I did" - Viktor Axelsen on HS Prannoy
Defending champion Viktor Axelsen, meanwhile, was all praise for HS Prannoy. Following the match, the Dane said:
"Credit to Prannoy! I think he played a really good game. He went all out and played well, controlled the conditions way better than I did today."
While Axelsen advances to the semifinals, HS Prannoy wraps up a strong season that saw him reach the final of the Swiss Open and the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships, among others.
