US Open GPG: BAI president announces cash reward for HS Prannoy, Parupalli Kashyap

New Delhi: Badminton Association of India president Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday announced cash awards for the US Open Grand Prix Gold winner HS Prannoy and runner-up Parupalli Kashyap for their stellar performance. In an all-Indian final, Prannoy, seeded two in the tournament, had to bring his A game to get past his senior pro 21-15 20-22 21-12 in a thrilling encounter that lasted one hour and five minutes at Anaheim, California. [caption id=“attachment_3848861” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] HS Prannoy celebrates winning a point in the US Open final. Image courtesy: BWF official website[/caption] Despite going through a string of injuries, Prannoy had shown what he is capable of, when he beat Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and China’s Chen Long in successive matches to qualify for the Indonesia Open semifinals earlier this year. And with this win, he now has three Grand Prix Gold titles. “It is a great achievement for both the players. This was the second time in the year that two Indian male shuttlers were up against each others in the finals. And it’s just the quality that the sport in the country possess and we could only get better from here. I congratulate both the players on their performance and wish them luck for the upcoming tournaments,” Sarma said. General secretary Anup Narang said, “Both the players have been going through a rough phase and their recent performance shows that they are getting back to their best very soon.”