The World number 9 Indian will square off against China's Weng Hong Yang in the summit clash on Sunday. (File)
HS Prannoy has mastered the art of finishing a set pulling out the big winners at precise moments, and proved why he is currently India’s best, downing upstart and upcoming Priyanshu Rajawat 21-18, 21-12 in the semifinals of the Australian Open Super 500 at Sydney on Saturday. Rajawat unfurled all his brilliance in one rally to level the opening set score 18-18, but it was at this juncture that Prannoy could shut him down with a dependable cross smash, as he powered his way into his season’s second Tour final winning in 43 minutes.
Prannoy had muscled his way to taking a 18-16 lead, when Priyanshu aced yet another net dribble to go upto 17-18. The next rally completely tested Prannoy’s charging power attack – Priyanshu first had the most agile behind-the-back retrieve and on the next body attack, sent back a forehand reflex as a frustrated Prannoy sent the shuttle wide to make it 18-18. Priyanshu, 10 years younger than Prannoy, was on a roll here, which is when Prannoy brought all his experience and firepower to the court.
The next point was an irretrievable cross smash with a lot of shoulder on it sent cross. 19-18 Prannoy. Then it was the senior’s turn to show his agility, as he sent a wonderful and fast backhand wrist flick, complete with a pirouette to take it to 20-18. Prannoy, 31, would win the set with a precise on the line winner. Three big points played like a champion finisher. (READ MORE)
HS Prannoy finished second best at Australian Open. (Screengrab)
What a dramatic end to the game as Weng Hong Yang makes an incredible comeback from 14-19 in the decider and a match point down in the third set to beat HS Prannoy 21-9 | 21-23 | 22-20
It's never over until it's actually over, and this one took 90 minutes to finish. Weng looked tired but had the last fight in him for those end points.
HS Prannoy 20-21 Weng Hong Yang, in 3rd set | Pressure on Prannoy as Yang goes in front and the game is heading for a thrilling finish.
HS Prannoy 19-19 Weng Hong Yang, in 3rd set | Taking pace off hte shot and Weng has drawn level! WOW!
HS Prannoy 19-18 Weng Hong Yang, in 3rd set | Both players lying on the ground after an incredible rally which featured 71 shots. Weng has snapped up four points on the trot and made this game very close to call. We are past the 80 min mark now.
HS Prannoy 19-16 Weng Hong Yang, in 3rd set | Weng reduces deficit to 19-16, but Prannoy is just two points away from clinching his second BWF World Tour title.
HS Prannoy 16-13 Weng Hong Yang, in 3rd set | Weng has won four of the last five available points and that has helped him pull things back.
HS Prannoy 15-10 Weng Hong Yang in 3rd set | Prannoy continues to build the lead and is edging close to a memorable win
HS Prannoy 13-9 Weng Hong Yang in 3rd set | Weng is clearly tired, being peppered with Prannoy's steep attack forced to bend low
HS Prannoy 11-8 Weng Hong Yang In 3rd set | For the second successive game, Prannoy takes the lead heading into the interval.
HS Prannoy 6-3 Weng Hong Yang In 3rd set | Prannoy has raced to a 6-3 lead in the third game and looks good to continue with this lead. The first game seems a distant past now.
HS Prannoy 4-3 Weng Hong Yang In 3rd set | Prannoy races into a 2-0 lead in the deciding game as the Chinese fights back to reduce deficit to 2-1. Then once again the Indian goes ahead to take four in the kitty
Like the commentator points out, 8 times this year, Prannoy has lost the opener, and 6 times won the match. His total of 13 wins from 17 three setters also impressive, but all will depend on how Weng responds. He wilted under the Prannoy attack at the end of the second
HS Prannoy 23-21 Weng Hong Yang | We go into the third after Prannoy wins the second game in style. Dramatic back and forths here to end the second in 36 minutes. Prannoy piled on the pressure on Weng by making the Chinese move around and quick runs to the net. His delaying tactics didn't earn him enough of a breather.
HS Prannoy 21-21 Weng Hong Yang | The Chinese star saves the second game point with a fantastic smash down the line.
HS Prannoy 20-20 Weng Hong Yang | This match continues to twist and turn as Prannoy misses his Game Point and Yang makes it level.
HS Prannoy 19-19 Weng Hong Yang | The Indian star with a brilliant smash and draw level again. Adding to the drama, Yang has asked for medical help. This is going to be interesting! Ready for action with the game on the edge
HS Prannoy 17-19 Weng Hong Yang | Prannoy tries to place it wide but misses and its out and a two point lead for Yang. A review and it seemed well outside but replays reveal it was actually quite close.
HS Prannoy 16-18 Weng Hong Yang | Uh-Oh Prannoy has given his lead away. Three ver very crucial points for Yang and that means he is now in a comfortable position. Quite noisy in the stadium.
HS Prannoy 16-15 Weng Hong Yang | What a brilliant rally between the two and Prannoy wins a crucial point with a brilliant smash. Yang wants to review but umpire says it is too late. And the Chinese player does not look happy. Replays do not give a clear picture either.
HS Prannoy 15-13 Weng Hong Yang | The Indian star has maintained his lead since it was 7-7 and he is in no mood to let it go.
HS Prannoy 13-12 Weng Hong Yang | After trailing at the interval, Weng has reduced the deficit and is fighting back well.
HS Prannoy leads 11-8 at the interval in the second game against Weng Hong Yang ! Game On! Prannoy's famed third set fight back might come into play here. He is moving quicker, hitting harder.
HS Prannoy 10-8 Weng Hong Yang | Prannoy seems to have found is form as he fights back to take the lead.
HS Prannoy 7-7 Weng Hong Yang in 2nd set | Prannoy hits back to make it all square. He is not going down without a fight.
HS Prannoy 5-7 Weng Hong Yang in 2nd set | A fantastic rally where it seemed like Prannoy would almost win the point but Yang holds his nerve and takes it home.
HS Prannoy 3-4 Weng Hong Yang in 2nd set | Just when it seemed that Yang was storming ahead, Prannoy has pulled things back with three important points. He needs to maintain this momentum.
The courts are supposed to be slow from one side and fast from another. Let's see if change of ends turns the tide. Right now Weng on a roll leading 3-0
Weng successfully pinned Prannoy to the back with the threat of the smash, and the Indian's sluggish movement to the net compounded his woes. His strokes from the back court are lacking the Whizz and sting today. Goes down 9-21 in the first.
HS Prannoy 8-17 Weng Hong Yang | It is a huge whopping 10 point lead for Yang and the game seems to slipping out of the Indian's grasp.
HS Prannoy 8-15 Weng Hong Yang | Prannoy finally breaks Weng’s run of seven-consecutive points. This exactly what Prannoy needs but this is just the start and he needs a lot more.
HS Prannoy 6-14 Weng Hong Yang | The lead continues to grow for the Chinese are Prannoy is unable to gather points. Seven points in a row for Yang.
HS Prannoy 6-11 Weng Hong Yang | It seems like the long matches are finally taking a toll on Prannoy. He is being outwitted by his opponent. Prannoy is going behind and attacking Weng's backhand with his down the lines, but Weng retorting with jump smashes and errors from Prannoy into the net.
HS Prannoy 5-5 Weng Hong Yang | After trailing his Chinese opponent for a while, Prannoy has evened things in the middle. The score is level at 5-5 after the Chinese took an early lead in the opening game.
HS Prannoy, who is trailing at the moment, makes it 5-3 with a good smash. Playing against the southpaw can be tricky but he is doing well so far.
Yang storms ahead to take a 3-0 lead in the opening game but Prannoy hits back to bag his first point to make it 3-1
The men's singles final is about to start. HS Prannoy and Weng Hong Yang of China are just warming up. Yang to serve first and bags the first point with an attacking shot. 1-0 to Yang
Three finals in three weeks for Kim/Kong. They won at Japan defeating Chen/Jia after losing to them at Korea in 3 sets. They beat another Chinese pair Liu/Tan 21-18, 21-16 at Australia to make it 2 out of 3. Prannoy up against Weng Hong Yang next
The left hander is tricky when he strings together points, but vulnerable to fast attacks on quick courts. His finals record is 2 wins, 2 losses on the tour.
Born in Fuzhou and starting with the provincial team there, Weng won the Chinese Nationals in November 2020, a year after winning the Super 100 China Masters in 2019. He has an Asian Championship bronze from 2022, and his first Super 500 title came in Korea the same year.
Prannoy can rise to World No 7 if he wins in Australia with the addition of 4000 odd points.Weng Hong Yang has two recent wins against Lee Zii Jia and other top scalps including Kento Momota, Anthony Ginting, Ng Ka Long Angus, Jonatan Christie. But he's lost to other Indians Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen and Kiran George, besides the Malaysian Masters final to Prannoy himself.
American 33-year-old Beiwen Zhang has 8 Quarterfinals, 5 semifinals and 3 finals this year, according to Tracker MS/WS, reprising her 2018 form. She recently beat Chen Yufei at Japan to go with her Australia Super 500 crown. This was the fifth world tour title in mixed doubles for Feng/Huang, according to Badminton Talk
HS Prannoy has had to wait patiently and work incredibly hard for his moment under the sun. After his maiden Super 500 title in Malaysia, the country's top male shuttler looks primed for more such moments. Prannoy’s career was meant for bigger things as soon as he started. In 2009, he was scouted out at a junior ranking meet at Kochi and invited to join the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.
Titles, though, eluded him. Injuries and health concerns pegged him back and tethered him to disappointments after the highs of 2017. Far too often, the day after a marquee win would see him lose tamely to a lower-ranked opponent. There was the silver medal from the Youth Olympics in Singapore and a Grand Prix Gold title in Indonesia, plus the Asian Championship bronze. But super Sundays were glaringly missing from his diary. Prannoy remained undeterred – even when he narrowly missed out on a World Championship medal in 2021. (READ MORE)
HS Prannoy may hold the upper hand in three sets, but exhaustion cost him the win as he was spent in the third against Axelsen at Japan Open. Showing superior physical fitness, Axelsen has bossed the third set against a tiring Prannoy to win 19-21, 21-18, 21-8 in 76 long minutes. But for the whole length of the first two sets, for close to 54 minutes till he levelled the match, Prannoy had Axelsen under pressure.
The 31-year-old Prannoy was always known for his power-packed backhand game that slayed top names. But it is in the deciders since the Thomas Cup triumph that he has transformed into a beast, out thinking opponents even when tired, and never being out of the reckoning even if he’s dropped the opener.
Beiwen Zhang wins the Australian Open women's singles title after beating Kim Ga Eun of South Korea 20-22, 21-16, 21-8. 33-year-old Zhang bags her second World Tour title.
HS Prannoy has got the beast mentality like Novak Djokovic when the match goes into the decider. Just like the tennis legend, the Indian shuttler excels when his back is against the wall. HS Prannoy has played 17 three-setters this season and won 13 of those, losing only 4.
Notably, of his four losses in 3 (to Kodai Naraoka, Viktor Axelsen, Lee Cheuk You and Antony Ginting), he has reversed the result from loss to win in the decider the next time he met them against Lee Cheuk and Ginting, whom he beat in the quarters at Sydney.
Prannoy has played 17 three-setters this season and won 13 of those, losing only 4. Amongst the vanquished in the deciders are Lakshya Sen, Chico Wardoyo (twice), Lee Zii Jia, Shi Yuqi, Chou Tien Chen, Li Shifeng, Kenta Nishimoto, Kidambi Srikant, Chi Yu Jen and his opponent at Sydney, Weng Hong Yang. He hasn’t lost a three setter to a Chinese this season.
“Crowd will definitely help me. I hope there will be a packed crowd tomorrow for me. Weng is very tricky. He can play those big matches out there. Last six months he has beaten a lot of big names. So it’s not easy to play against him. He has an advantage over a lot of players out there. But finally in the finals, I will go all out tomorrow.”
Prannoy once again comes up against Chinese southpaw Weng Hong Yang in a rematch of the Malaysian Masters final from end May. That had been a 94-minute marathon, where Prannoy prevailed 21-19, 13-21, 21-18.
“A lot of credit goes to myself (laughs) because I was ready to accept change, try new things. The team which has been working with me has been really great. They have been able to give me inputs, help me each day in training,” Prannoy said. “The coaches Gopi sir, Guru, physios, trainers, everybody has equally worked hard from the background, so it is a team effort that is happening and I hope we can find solutions for each tournament and keep going,” he said.
HS Prannoy on Saturday said continuous experimentation has been the key to his “special” season as he reached his second final of the year at the Australian Open Super 500 tournament. Prannoy battled a series of injuries and health issues before turning his career around at the back end of 2021
HS Prannoy defeated compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat in straight games 21-18,21-12 to storm into the second final of the world tour 2023. Finals will be a rematch of Malaysian Masters where Prannoy got better of chinese player - Weng Hong Yang. Stay tuned for live updates