In a game that lasted 94 minutes, the 30-year-old Indian defeated China's world number 34 Weng Hong Yang, a bronze medalist at the 2022 Asian Championships.
Digital
Desk: HS Prannoy, a star Indian shuttler, won the
Malaysia Masters title on Sunday. He won his first BWF World Tour championship
as well as India's first singles title of the year. Prannoy defeated China's
Weng Hong Yang in three games to snap a six-year title drought. In a game that
lasted 94 minutes, the 30-year-old Indian defeated China's world number 34 Weng
Hong Yang, a bronze medalist at the 2022 Asian Championships.
Prannoy advanced to the final as his
opponent, Christian Adinata of Indonesia, retired due to a severe knee injury.
Prannoy was up 19-17 when Adinata lost his balance when landing after a jump
return, causing his left knee to bend and leaving the Indonesian shuttler in
pain.
Prannoy has been the most consistent Indian player on the tour
over the last two years, but he has yet to put it all together in a week to win
a major title on the BWF World Tour. On Sunday, the world number nine Prannoy
finally broke the jinx, delivering a superb performance against the 23-year-old
from China in a fight of endurance.
PV Sindhu was unable to advance to the
women's singles finals after losing in the semifinals to Indonesia's Gregoria
Mariska Tunjung 14-21 17-21. Sindhu had won seven of her previous eight matches
against Mariska.
Earlier, Srikanth Kidambi was defeated in the quarterfinals by
Christian Adinata of Indonesia. Kidambi took a strong lead after winning the
first set 21-16, but Adinata startled the Indian ace shuttler by dominating the
second set 16-21 and the third set 11-21 to seal the match in just 57 minutes.
Another shuttler, Lakshya Sen, was eliminated in the round of 16 after losing
to Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long. He ended his campaign with straight sets loss
against Angus 14-21, 19-21.
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