HS Prannoy signs off with runner-up finish at Australian Open, loses to Weng Hong Yang in final

Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy capped of an impressive week with a runnerup finish as he lost to Chinarsquos Weng Hong Yang at the Australian Open mens singles final here on SundayFollowing 90 minutes of play Prannoy lost 921 2321 2022 loss to world number 24 Weng who robbed him of a chance to win his second BWF title of the seasonWith the win the 24yearold Weng who had won the Korea Open last year and 2019 China Masters settled the scores against Prannoy after going down in three games to the Indian at the Malaysia Masters final in MayEight times this year Prannoy has recovered from an opening game loss and went on to claim the match six times like he did against World number 2 Anthony Ginting in the quarterfinalsThings were going the same way before Weng staged a sensational comeback from 1419 down in the deciderAlso Read Malaysia Masters HS Prannoy defeats Chinas Weng Hong Yang claims mens singles titleThe 31yearold Indian bounced back from an opening game reversal but squandered a fivepoint lead in the decider and also a championship point to eventually finish second to WengPrannoy was errorprone in the first game while Weng used his jump smashes to good effect to pull away from 66 With the Indian continuing to miscue his shots the Chinese grabbed 12 game points when Prannoy again sprayed into net The Chinese converted it when Prannoy went longPrannoy relishes such pressure cooker situation and once again showed his nerves Weng opened up a 30 lead but the Indian made it 24 with a booming smashPrannoy evened things at 77 with a smash and went into the lead after Wengs forehand went wide and Prannoy followed it with another smash The Indian grabbed a threepoint cushion with a forehand jump smash at the breakWeng managed to hang in there with some fine placement but Prannoy kept his nose ahead at 1311 with another cross winner The Chinese kept breathing down his rivals neck with another push at the backline and clawed back at 1515 with a body smashWeng produced a smash on Prannoys forehand and soon wrested back the lead at 1716 After a series of intense rallies the duo was locked at 1919 when Weng took a medical timeoutOn resumption Prannoy unleashed a whipping backhand to grab a game point but he went wide The Indian gained another game point after making a diving save on his left Weng once again saved it with a deep cross smashAt 2121 Wengs forehand smash went wide to hand Prannoy his third game point and this time the Indian prevailed in a flat net exchange to take the match to the deciderIn the third game Prannoy opened up a 63 lead with two precise returns on the backhand of his rival But a few unforced errors from the Indian helped Weng to narrow it to 67Prannoy moved to 107 with another straight smash before entering the interval with a threepoint cushion The Indian continued to march ahead with Weng committing too many errors He also sent down a precise straight smash to make it 159Prannoy patiently waited for opportunities and soon moved to 1714 The Indian then unleashed another booming straight smash before coming up with a cross winner to make it 1914Weng won the next three points and then played an exhausting 71shot rally as Prannoy sent the shuttle to the net before both the shuttlers collapsed to the courtWeng showed nerves of steel as a superb drop helped him to claw back at 1919 his fifth straight pointPrannoy then won a net duel to grab a championship point but Weng saved the point with a lucky net cordThe Chinese then gained a championship point with a smash that crammed the Indian who sent the shuttle long next to hand over the title to WengWith PTI inputs