Australian Open badminton Highlights: HS Prannoy goes down fighting in three games to Weng Hong Yang

HS Prannoy finishes runner-up at the Australian Open after a battling performance

Weng Hong Yang wins Australian Open

Weng Hong Yang of China wins the Australian Open Super 500 tournament with a 21-9, 23-21, 22-20 scoreline against HS Prannoy. The Indian shuttler led by six points at one stage in the third game

Weng Hong Yang has Championship point!

Weng Hong Yang with a smash into HS Prannoy’s body and it doesn’t come back. Championship point for the Chinese shuttler. A seventh point of eight for him.

Weng Hong Yang levels it again

Now Weng Hong Yang clips the net, the shuttle trickles over and HS Prannoy dives forward but that was always a lost cause. 20-20!

HS Prannoy has CHAMPIONSHIP POINT

HS Prannoy gets the luck of the net and Weng Hong Yang sends the shuttle wide

Weng Hong Yang levels it!

Five points in a row for the Chinese shuttler and it is now 19-19! HS Prannoy led by six points at one stage and now it is even this deep into the match. An angled shot, lands short, and HS Prannoy is unable to get it back

Weng Hong Yang not going away

Weng Hong Yang is staying in it with three points in a row now to reduce the gap to two points. 71 shot rally at 19-17. Yes. 71 shot rally! HS Prannoy sends it into the net and both players collapse on the court at the end of it. HS Prannoy now up by just one point

HS Prannoy powers to five point lead

HS Prannoy powering some big smashes now. Three smashes, three points won for him. Once again, he is powered by the crowd and giving it back to them in return

HS Prannoy smashes forward!

HS Prannoy clenches his fist after a fierce smash is far too powerful for the Chinese shuttler to get back. The four point lead is restored

HS Prannoy wins longest rally of the match

A 37 shot rally goes HS Prannoy’s way. The Indian winning the game of attrition and leads the match despite being taken to three game set once again. Prannoy still has the lead but the margin is being cut ever so slightly

Weng Hong Yang cuts gap

Two straight points for Weng Hong Yang and the deficit now stands at four points. HS Prannoy had the shuttle on the up, near the net but overcooks it

HS Prannoy up by six points

HS Prannoy is bang on the money with his little jump smash and the Indian leads 15-9.  A convincing six point lead and this is running away from Weng Hong Yang

HS Prannoy forces an error

HS Prannoy in command in the third game and leads 11-8 at the interval. A smash that lands low and Weng Hong Yang tries to get it up and over the net but doesn’t have the power to send it the distance.

HS Prannoy thundering to lead

HS Prannoy jumps, leaps confidently, and powers a smash towards the corner and the Chinese shuttler can only see it go. The Indian leads 9-7

HS Prannoy clinches the second game!

HS Prannoy goes on the attack and keeps it going to force a third game! He takes the second game 22-20 and once again, he is headed to a third game at this tournament

HS Prannoy leads again

An unforced error from Weng Hong Yang and HS Prannoy leads 22-21 to bring up a third game point. The Chinese shuttler drags his smash wide and stays down in disappointment. Had done so well to keep the point alive

Weng Hong Yang saves second game point

HS Prannoy deceived by a little dink by Weng Hong Yang over the Indian shuttler’s head. Prannoy gets it back but lets the court advantage go and the angled shot is too good for a desperate dive by the Indian. 21-21

Weng Hong Yang levels it at 20-20

The Chinese player sees the shuttle go wide and the game point is not converted by HS Prannoy. A moment later, he has another game point. The Indian player with sublime defensive dive to keep the point alive and then romps to a smash at the net to make it 21-20

HS Prannoy with backhand smash

HS Prannoy with two consecutive smashes that come back but not the third. He’s stationed perfectly at the net to complete a backhand smash and brings up game point at 20-19

HS Prannoy cuts the gap

HS Prannoy with a fierce smash, getting plenty into the smash and Weng Hong Yang is unable to put it back. The deficit now at one point – 18-19. Make that two unreturnable smashes in a row! What an intense rally as both players desperately fight for the game. 19-19

Weng Hong Yang leads 19-17

HS Prannoy looks to push the shuttle deep but the angle is too much. Milimetres the difference as Prannoy challenges and the shuttle had gone just wide. Weng Hong Yang leads 19-17

Weng Hong Yang now leads 18-16

From trailing by two points a couple of minutes ago, Weng Hong Yang has come back to lead by two and the crowd is right alongside him with thundering noise

Weng Hong Yang appeals

The Chinese shuttler believes a shuttle had gone wide but the appeal against it came a little too late. The umpire denies the challenge being accepted. The Chinese crowd boos in dissatisfaction. Moment later, he wins a point and the reaction turns to massive cheer

Weng Hong Yang levels!

WHAT A SMASH! A brutal smash by the left-handed shuttler into HS Prannoy’s body and it is even stevens in the second game

Weng Hong Yang hits the net

The Chinese shuttler had the opportunity to draw level but a raised shuttle is hit into the net and the nervous game continues. Neither players able to string two points together since the interval. It is 15-13 to Hs Prannoy

HS Prannoy leads 13-11

HS Prannoy with a gorgeous angled, short smash that is far too much for Weng to get to. The Chinese shuttler makes a desperate dive but to no avail

HS Prannoy leads!

For the first time in the match, HS Prannoy leads! A smash from Weng Hong Yang, then an error and follows it up with a smash of his own and Prannoy goes from trailing by one to leading by two. He increases the lead to 11-8 with a thumping smash into the corner

HS Prannoy smashes into the net

A moment after being warned to prepare quicker, Weng Hong Yang with brilliant low returns to get HS Prannoy smashes on to the other side. He prolongs the point and is rewarded for it with a seemingly winded Prannoy smashing into the net. The Chinese shuttler leads 7-5

Weng Hong Yang pulls off

Weng Hong Yang once again starts better and leads. HS Prannoy tries to bring himself back with some clutch and cracking badminton, which comes off on one point, but not consistently

Weng Hong Yang wins first game 21-9

Weng Hong Yang sees the shuttle off and wins the opening game 21-9 in 17 minutes. The Chinese shuttler pulling off runs of seven and six points during that game

Weng Hong Yang leads 18-8

The Chinese shuttler is racing off in the first game. Seemingly the heat of the previous matches starting to show now for Prannoy. Errors creeping in, touch slower in reaching the shuttle. Looks to play the angles but sends the shuttle wide twice in a row

Weng Hong Yang takes massive lead

The Chinese shuttler collects seven points in a row to build a commanding 14-6 lead before a forehand hits the net and Prannoy can breathe just a little

HS Prannoy cuts the deficit again

HS Prannoy with a tight backhand down the line to once again cut away the three point gap created by Weng Hong Yang. However, he’s unable to take the lead as a smash goes narrowly wide

Weng Hong Yang starts brightly

The Chinese shuttler takes a 3-0 lead to start the contest with a subtle and cute dink over Prannoy’s head in between. The little touches make things challenging when playing left-handers and it being proved there. Prannoy gets the luck of the net twice in the first few points and the 5-2 deficit has now been reduced to a single point

HS Prannoy steps up for the final

HS Prannoy takes court for his men’s singles final against Weng Hong Yang. The Chinese shuttler wins the toss and chooses a side. HS Prannoy prefers to receive the serve.

Results of finals so far at the Australian Open today:

Beiwen Zhang beat Ga Eun Kim 20-22, 21-16, 21-8 in women’s singles

Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping beat Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito 21-14, 16-21, 21-15 in mixed doubles

So Yeong Kim/Hee Yong Kong beat Sheng Shu Liu/Ning Tan 21-18, 21-16 in women’s doubles

HS Prannoy on playing Weng Hong Yang

“Weng is very tricky, he can play big matches. In last six months, he has gone out there and beaten a lot of big names. So it is not easy and especially being a left-hander, he has a lot of advantage over a lot of players. But finals is a final and I will go all out tomorrow.”

HS Prannoy head-to-head with Weng Hong Yang

HS Prannoy leads 1-0. Their only meeting came in the final of the Malaysia Masters which helped him win his first individual title in six years in May. That day, Prannoy had triumphed 21-19, 13-21, 21-18

HS Prannoy after win over Rajawat

“It is very satisfying (to win), because it is always tough to play continuously against the top 10 players and beating them and if you look at the men’s singles section, somebody from 30s and 40s are also very tough these days,” Prannoy said after the win.

“Last two years have been good for me, I have been consistently able to pull off matches and this year has been special and I hope I can do something similar to what I did in Malaysia,” he said.