HS Prannoy Signs Off With Runner-Up Finish At Australian Open

Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy capped off an impressive week with a runner-up finish at the Australian Open after his gallant fight ended in a heart-breaking loss to China's Weng Hong Yang in a thrilling men's singles final on Sunday. Following a marathon 90 minutes of play, it was Prannoy who was left to bear the heartache as the 9-21 23-21 20-22 loss against world number 24 Weng robbed him of a chance to win his second BWF title of the season.

With the win, the 24-year-old 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 May.

Eight 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 quarterfinals.

The script seemed to be going the same way before Weng staged a sensational comeback from 14-19 down in the decider.

The 31-year-old from Kerala bounced back from an opening game reversal but squandered a five-point lead in the decider and also a championship point to eventually finish second to Weng.

Prannoy was error-prone in the first game, while Weng used his jump smashes to good effect to pull away from 6-6. 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 long.

Prannoy relishes such pressure cooker situation and once again showed his nerves. Weng opened up a 3-0 lead but the Indian made it 2-4 with a booming smash.

Prannoy evened things at 7-7 with a smash and went into the lead after Weng's forehand went wide and Prannoy followed it with another smash. The Indian