Hongyang shows nerves of steal to pip Prannoy to title

PETALING JAYA: Weng Hongyang of China avenged his defeat to H.S. Prannoy in the Malaysian Masters in May by overcoming the Indian in spectacular style to win the Australian Open in Sydney yesterday.

Prannoy, 31, was just two points away from clinching his second Badminton World Federation (BWF) tour title when he led 19-14 in the deciding game only to see Hongyang secure five points on the trot to draw level.

The Indian shuttler moved up to 20-19 but not only did Hongyang save a match point but he went on to bage three points to steal the win 52 minutes.

It was Hongyang’s first BWF tour title and the world No. 24 is set to break into the top 20 this week.

Hongyang, who was often compared to China legend Lin Dan when he burst on to the international scene two years ago, had also defeated top Malaysian shuttler Lee Zii Jia in the semi-finals.

His other big-name scalps in the tournament are world No. 4 Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the first round and world No. 10 Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Zhang Beiwen became fourth time lucky this year when the United States shuttler defeated Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 20-22, 21-16, 21-8 in the final.

Beiwen was born in China but moved to Singapore at the age of 13 in 2003 to play for the republic until 2012.

She switched her allegiance to the United States after she was dropped from the Singapore national squad and has won the Pan American Championships in 2021 besides clinching her first super 500 title in 2018 beating local favourite P.V. Sindhu to win the India Open title.

Beiwen had finished runner-up three times this year.

She lost to Michelle Li of Canada in the Pan American Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, and to Tai Szu-ying in the Taiwan Open while Spain’s Carolina Marin defeated her to land the Orleans Masters title in France.

World No. 12 Beiwen is also set to break into the top 10 with her success in Sydney.

Men’s singles: Weng Hongyang (Chn) bt H.S. Prannoy (Ind) 21-9, 21-23, 22-20.

Men’s doubles: Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 21-17, 21-17.

Women’s singles: Zhang Beiwen (US) bt Kim Ga-eun (Kor) 20-22, 21-16, 21-8.

Women’s doubles: Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) 21-18, 21-16.

Mixed doubles: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-14, 16-21, 21-15.