Australian Open Highlights: Weng Hong Yang clinched his maiden title of the year at the Australian Open 2023 on Sunday, 6th August. The unseeded Chinese defeated World No.9 HS Prannoy 21-9, 21-23, 22-20 in a thrilling encounter. With the win, he also avenged his Malaysian Masters final loss against Prannoy earlier this year.
Also Read: HS Prannoy credits constant experiments as key to special season ahead of Australian Open final
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.
In the second game, the Chinese shuttler took the momentum and looked to be cruising but Prannoy came back into the game and managed to take a three-point lead into the break. Yang, though, hit right back to draw level at 15-15, setting up a scramble to the finish line.
The momentum swung constantly between the two finalists before the Indian just about edged the thriller of a game to set up a decider.
After a tight start to the deciding game, Prannoy began to pull away and made full use of the young Chinese player’s unforced errors to build up a 19-14 lead. However, Yang dug deep and picked up five consecutive points to draw parity.
A 71-shot rally when the score was 19-18 turned the tide in the Chinese player’s favour. Under pressure, Prannoy squandered a championship point before eventually conceding the 90-minute-long marathon contest. It was Yang’s first win over the Indian.
Next up on the badminton calendar is the world championships, starting August 21 in Copenhagen
Follow InsideSport on GOOGLE NEWS / Follow Australian Open 2023 Live Updates with InsideSport.IN.
Editor's Pick
Top Stories
