India’s ace shuttler HS Prannoy has ended his wait for a World Tour Title. The Indian men’s singles shuttler fought hard to overcome China’s Weng Hongyang 21-19, 13-21, 21-18 in the Malaysian Masters final at the Axiata Arena yesterday.
“I can’t believe that I’ve won my first title,” said Prannoy. “The past seven years have been full of ups and downs for me. I was always reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals but I’ve never been able to cross the finish line. But I’ve always trusted the process and my results improved last year, and I regained my confidence” he added.
𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡 🏆🏆🏆
HS Prannoy has done it!! 🫡😍
The WR 9 Indian beats Weng Hong Yang of China 21-19, 13-21, 21-18 in #MalaysiaMasters2023 men’s singles final to win his maiden BWF World Tour title. 🇮🇳#MalaysiaMasters #HSPrannoy pic.twitter.com/Kc3YfHnFdu
— Khel Now (@KhelNow) May 28, 2023
With this win, World No. 9 Prannoy became the first Indian to capture the men’s singles title in the prestigious badminton tournament.
In addition, Japan’s world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi defeated Indonesia’s world No. 9 Gregoria Mariska 21-17, 21-7 to win the women’s singles title. This was Yamaguchi’s second title in Malaysia this year after her Malaysian Open win in January.
In the post-match interview, Yamaguchi stated, “Malaysia is becoming a lucky place for me as this is my second title here this year. The fans here have always given me a lot of support.” She further added, “Moving forward, it’s important for me to keep playing with confidence.”
