Australian Open 2023: HS Prannoy loses to China's Weng Hong Yang in men's singles final

Published at :August 6, 2023 at 3:04 PM

Modified at :January 13, 2024 at 5:03 PM

(Courtesy : Twitter Screenshot)

The title clash lasted for an epic 90 minutes.

China’s upcoming star Weng Hong Yang defeated India’s top-ranked men’s singles shuttler HS Prannoy to claim the Australian Open 2023 title in three games (21-8, 21-23, 22-20). The Chinese player had lost to Prannoy in the Malaysia Masters final earlier in June and now took his revenge in a marathon 90-minute encounter to win his third BWF Tour title.

The match did not start in the way Prannoy would have expected as he lost the opening game (8-21) inside just 17 minutes. The former youth Olympics silver medalist looked out of options after an aggressive start. The start in the second game too wasn’t good as the Indian lost the first three points (0-3). However, Prannoy slowly steadied things and took an important three-point lead at the mid game interval.

Weng, 24, though was never out of the game and kept Prannoy on his feet. From 15-all, both players scored points alternatively and the scoreline was tied 20-all. In the end, Prannoy managed to win the game and forced a decider with the second game lasting for 36 minutes.

Weng Hong Yang from (2-2) in the decider never held on to the lead with Prannoy showcasing complete dominance. The Indian at one point was leading by five points (19-14) and was set for an easy finish but the Chinese had other options and slowly brought down the deficit.

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At (17-19), both players played out a 71-shot rally and that was by far the point of the day which went in Weng Hong Yang’s favour. This point proved to be decisive as the Chinese was just one point away (18-19) and it was anybody’s game from here on.

From (14-19), Weng Hong Yang won five straight points to level scores (19-19) but Prannoy scored a point in the following rally to get to championship point. The Chinese once again came back strongly saving a championship point and, in the end, scored three straight points to clinch the title. Weng Hong Yang scored eight out of the last nine points on offer with Prannoy unable to hold on to his lead in the decider.

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