HS Prannoy defeated fellow countrymen Parupalli Kashyap to win a thrilling three-game to clinch the $120,000 US Open Grand Prix Gold. In an hour and five minutes match, Prannoy showed a gritty performance to win it 21-15, 20-22, 21-12.This is Prannoy’s 3rd Grand Prix Gold with the other two coming at the 2014 Indonesian Masters and the 2016 Swiss Open.
Prannoy had found a place in the final after defeating Vietnam’s Tien Minh Nguyen, while Kashyap overcame Korean Kwang Hee Heo in the semi-finals.The duo, who had a 1-1 head-to-head record having played each other at the 2014 German Open last time.
Prannoy impressively clinched the first game after going 4-8 down early on. However, the former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap, who is a much experienced player fought back in the second game. Kashyap won the second game 22-20. In the third set, it was all Prannoy who gave no chance to Kashyap and raced to victory.
Prannoy was always an attacking player but big injuries constantly stopped him from winning in big games. But this season, he showed his mettle. He defeated players like Lee Chong Wei and Chen Longat the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier.
It has been a good year for the Indian badminton players as last month, Srikanth Kidambi created history by becoming the first Indian to win two successive Superseries titles and by entering three consecutive finals at the Indonesian Open, Singapore Open, and the Australian Open.
