HS Prannoy reached the Malaysia Masters men’s singles final when Indonesia’s Christian Adinata forfeited the semifinal match on Saturday due to a knee ailment.
World number 9 Prannoy led 19-17 when Adinata lost his balance following a jump return and bent his left knee.
The 21-year-old Adinata, a 2019 World Junior Championships victor, was swiftly treated by Prannoy and the Indonesian coach before being taken off the court.
Prannoy will play the semifinal winner between China’s Weng Hong Yang and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi in the final on Sunday.
Prannoy’s first season final and second since the Swiss Open previous year. P V Sindhu lost against Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 14-21, 17-21, thus missed the women’s singles finals. Sindhu lost again to Indonesia after seven victories.
Prannoy raced out to an 11-1 lead. After the interval, Aditana scored baskets, scoring seven of the next nine points. Prannoy regained his confidence with a leap cross court smash, but Adinata’s clever strokes and unforced errors made it 10-14.
Adinata returned quickly and hit a body smash and cross court wins. He equalized at 16-16 as Prannoy went wide after an on-the-line return on the backline.
Prannoy led 19-17 until Adinata’s injury terminated the match.
Sindhu finds Tunjung too hot. Sindhu, a two-time champion here, couldn’t play her aggressive style with Tunjung’s superb defense and delicate strokes to complete points.
Tunjung’s stunning strokes erased the Indian’s 3-0 advantage.
Indonesia tried to bring Sindhu around to lead 6-4. She shot wide and Sindhu made it 6-6 with a brilliant reverse slice.
Tunjung tried to confuse Sindhu with her strokes, but Sindhu held her ground to go to 9-7. A straight smash and body return put her up 11-8 at the break.
After switching sides, everything changed. Tunjung equalized with a flat forehand punch clear before aggressive returns took her to 15-12. After another straight smash from Tunjung, Sindhu won, but Indonesia kept the momentum with aggressive wins. Tunjung scored six game points with Sindhu’s goal and another victory.
At 5-5 in the second game, Tunjung injured his forehand. Indonesia remained calm and went into halftime with an 11-9 lead.
Sindhu didn’t respond to coach Vidhi Chaudhary’s encouragement because Tunjung was making things tough for her.
Indonesia’s tiredness and blunders didn’t let her lose the match. Sindhu erred again, giving her six match points. Indian returns saved three. After another thrilling rally, Sindhu missed the net shot to end the semifinals.