Prannoy claims Malaysia Masters title

PTI, May 28, 2023, 5:41 PM IST

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Kuala Lumpur: India’s HS Prannoy secured his maiden BWF World Tour title with a gritty three-game win over China’s Weng Hong Yang in the men’s singles finals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 here on Sunday.

The 30-year-old Indian showed great composure and resolve during a 94-minute battle to notch a 21-19 13-21 21-18 victory against China’s world number 34 Weng Hong Yang.

Prannoy was instrumental in India’s epic Thomas Cup victory last year but an individual title has eluded him since the 2017 US Open Grand Prix Gold.

The Kerala shuttler had come close to breaking his title drought when he reached the finals at Swiss Open last year and signed off at the semifinal stage in Malaysia and the Indonesia Super 1000.

On Sunday, the world number nine Prannoy finally broke the jinx, dishing out a superlative performance against the 23-year-old from China in a battle of attrition.

This week, Prannoy gave ample display of his physical and mental fortitude as he outfoxed his opponents — world number five Chou Tien Chen, All England champion Li Shi Feng and Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in three games.