Australian Open Super 500 badminton championship: H.S. Prannoy misses out on title, bows out in final

H.S. Prannoy falls short in Aus Open final. World No. 24 Hongyang beats Prannoy in 3-game battle, Prannoy had 2-point lead in 3rd game.

India's ace shuttler H.S. Prannoy fell short in the finals match of the Australia Open 2023 men's singles title on Sunday in a dramatic fashion. 

World No. 24 Chinese shuttler Weng Hongyang had a hard-fought victory in a battle that lasted for three games. Hongyang started the game on a strong foot as he kept the Indian struggling for points. 

Prannoy found it hard to claim points and ended up losing the first game by 21-9. The drastic difference in the first game indicated that the Chinese shuttler would walk away with an easy victory in the finals. 

But Prannoy fought back with a different swagger in his game and bounced back to bring the game back to parity at 23-21. Prannoy used most of the momentum from the second game and led the third game for the majority of the time. He had a two-point lead advantage with the score reading 19-17.

Hongyang made a strong comeback to square the game level at 20-20. Hongyang held onto his nerves to claim the final two points and the Australia Open title by 22-20. 

Earlier in the tournament, Prannoy produced a fine performance at the Quaycentre Court 1 to defeat compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat in straight games in the semifinal.

Prannoy overwhelmed world No. 31 Rajawat 21-18, 21-12 to make his second final of the 2023 BWF season.