New Delhi [India], May 28 : General Secretary of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) Sanjay Mishra praised India's star shuttler HS Prannoy after he created history by winning his maiden BWF World Tour title on Sunday.
Sanjay Mishra said as quoted by a Badminton Association of India (BAI) press release, "I congratulate HS Prannoy for becoming the first Indian men's singles shuttler to clinch the Malaysia Masters title. He has contributed to many memorable victories in Indian badminton and continuing his fine form into the BWF World Tour title is a matter of great pride for the country and all of us. I hope and wish he continues his impressive run in the upcoming competitions and brings more laurels to India."
Prannoy defeated China's Weng Hongyang in the final of the men's singles event at the Malaysia Masters 2023 to clinch his first BWF World Tour title on Sunday.
Prannoy ranked No. 9 in the BWF rankings defeated Weng Hong Yang of China 21-19, 13-21, 21-18 to win his maiden BWF World Tour title. It was also the 30-year-old Prannoy's first men's singles crown in over six years. His last title came at the 2017 US Open, which, at the time, was part of the BWF Grand Prix - the predecessor to the BWF World Tour.
Playing at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Prannoy and Weng Hongyang went toe-to-toe early on in the first game. As the game advanced, both Hongyang and Prannoy battled to gain the upper hand against their opponent. With the scores tied at 16-16, the Indian ace raised his performance and took the lead in the match.
Prannoy, however, failed to carry the momentum in the second game as Hongyang rallied to take an 11-9 lead into the midway break. On return, the Chinese shuttler won six consecutive points and built on it to win the second game and forced a decider.
In the topsy-turvy decider game, the Indian ace got off to a slow start as he trailed 2-5 early on but made a perfect comeback to tie the score at 9-9. It was a race to the finish line from thereon. With the score reading 18-all, the Indian badminton player dug deep and closed out the match with three back-to-back points to win the BWF Super 500 event. The match lasted for 93 minutes.