Malaysia Masters 2023: HS Prannoy Bags Gold With Win Over Hong Yang Weng

HS Prannoy clinched the gold medal in the Malaysian Master 2023 with his win over Hong Yang Weng of China.

The Indian beat his rival 21-19, 13-21, 21-18 to earn an emphatic win in the summit clash at Kuala Lumpur.

With the win, Prannoy secured his first men’s singles title in more than six years, marking a significant achievement in his career. He had previously clinched the title at the 2017 US Open, which was a part of the BWF Grand Prix, the precursor to the current BWF World Tour.

Playing his first final of the year Prannoy and Yang went toe-to-toe early on in the first game. As the game progressed, both shuttlers battled to gain the upper hand. With the scores tied at 16-16, the Indian raised his game and went one game up in the match.

Prannoy, however, failed to carry the momentum in the second game as the Chinese rallied to take an 11-9 lead into the midway break. Later, he won six consecutive points and pocketed the second game to force a decider.

In the deciding game, the Indian got off to a slow start as he trailed 2-5 early on but made a solid comeback to tie the score at 9-9. With the score reading 18-all, Prannoy dug deep and closed out the match with three back-to-back points to win the BWF Super 500 event.

Prannoy had advanced to the final after Christian Adinata of Indonesia withdrew due to injury during the semifinals, granting Prannoy a place in the championship match.

Earlier, the 30-year-old defeated Kenta Nishimoto of Japan and reigning All-England champion Li Shi Feng in the quarterfinals and pre-quarterfinals, respectively.

This was Prannoy’s first final appearance since losing the decider of the 2022 Swiss Open to Jonatan Christie last year.

In the other semi-final, the People’s Republic of China’s Weng Hong Yang had defeated Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi 21-13, 21-19.

“I think there are too many emotions. The last six years have been too much of a rollercoaster. I didn’t expect that it will happen after six years to be honest. I mean if you would have asked me in 2017 I don’t think I would have told you that I will win in 2023. So lots of mixed emotions,” Prannoy said after the title triumph.

The 30-year-old thanked chief national coach Pullela Gopichand following his victory on Sunday.

“Thanks to all the coaches, support staff and Gopi sir. He kept telling me that it will happen one day and I should keep believing,” he added.

Earlier on Saturday, PV Sindhu lost 21-14, 21-17 to world No.9 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the women’s singles semifinals.

(With inputs from Agencies)