Prannoy finishes second best at Australian Open

The 31-year-old from Kerala bounced back from an opening game reversal but squandered a five-point lead in the decider and a championship point to go down 9-21 23-21 20-22 to world number 24 Weng in an edge-of-the-seat final.

Sydney: India’s HS Prannoy finished runner-up at the Australian Open Super 500 badminton tournament after losing a three-game thriller to China’s Weng Hong Yang in the men’s singles final here on Sunday.

The 31-year-old from Kerala bounced back from an opening game reversal but squandered a five-point lead in the decider and a championship point to go down 9-21 23-21 20-22 to world number 24 Weng in an edge-of-the-seat final.

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The only time the two met earlier, Prannoy had beaten Weng in another three-game humdinger to claim the Malaysia Masters in May.

The BWF World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300 in order. One other category of tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.

The Super 500 is a Grade 2 (level 4) event in the BWF tournament ranking system.