PRANNOY FINALLY CLAIMS MAIDEN WORLD TOUR TITLE
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Bernama) -- Better late than never.
India’s men’s singles ace H.S. Prannoy ended his long wait to land a first ever World Tour title after beating China’s Weng Hong Yang in the Malaysia Masters 2023 men’s singles final at the Axiata Arena, here today.
The 30-year-old Prannoy survived a closely fought battle against Hong Yang before claiming the title with a 21-19, 13-21, 21-18 victory in 94 minutes to become the first Indian men’s singles player to be crowned as the Malaysia Masters champion.
Prannoy, who was part of India’s historic Thomas Cup 2022 winning squad did not expect to win the title here after going through so many heartbreaks in the past.
“It was a roller coaster ride for me for the last six to seven years. To be honest, I did not think I would be able to win the title this year.
“Thanks to my coach who has always been by my side and gave me confidence because a lot of times I was unable to go beyond the semi final stage,” he told reporters here, today.
Prannoy’s best achievement before he stepped onto the highest podium today was in the Swiss Open 2022 as he finished the outing as runner up, going down to Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, 12-21, 18-21 in the final.
Meanwhile, top seed, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi lived up to expectations by emerging as the women’s singles champion when she came out tops against Indonesian rising star, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, 21-17, 21-7 in 34 minutes.
Yamaguchi was pleased to claim back-to-back titles here within five months after winning the Malaysia Open 2023 last January and had so much fun playing in front of the enthusiastic crowd here.
The current world number one had defeated An Se Young of South Korea, 12-21, 21-19, 21-11 to clinch the Malaysia Open 2023 title.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s mixed doubles pair, Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai bagged their first World Tour title this year as they clawed from a game down to see off Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping of China 16-21, 21-13, 21-18.
Taerattanachai said their hard work in training paid dividends as they managed to step on the podium again after winning the Japan Open 2022 title last August, beating Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino from the host country 16-21, 23-21, 21-18.
“Our next target is to try and win a medal in both the World Championships 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark this August followed by the Asian Games 2022 in China, a month later,” she said.
Both Prannoy and Yamaguchi collected a prize purse of US$31,500 each and a trophy while Puavaranukroh-Taerattanachai cashed in US$33,180 and a trophy.
-- BERNAMA
