Kuala Lumpur: Indian soccer superstar HS Pranoi made it to the men’s singles final at the Malaysia Masters after conceding to Indian Christian Adenata in the semi-finals with a serious knee injury here on Saturday.
World No. 9 Prannui was leading 19-17 when Adenata lost her footing on landing after jumping backwards and spraining her left knee, causing the Indonesian shuttle driver to squirm.
The 21-year-old, who won the 2019 World Junior Championships, was soon joined by Prannui and coached 21-year-old Adenata from Indonesia before being sent off.
It’s Brannui’s first season final, and his second since finishing second at the Swiss Open last year.
However, Olympic doubles medalist PV Sindhu couldn’t reach the women’s singles final after losing 14-21, 17-21 to Indonesian tennis player Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.
It was Sindh’s second consecutive defeat after seven wins against world number 9 Indonesia.
It was one-way traffic for Branoy, who was on his way to a strong start, taking an 11-1 lead in the blink of an eye. But after the break, it was Aditya who picked up the points in the groups, claiming seven of the next nine points.
Jumps across the pitch helped Pranoy regain his confidence, but an unforced error and Adinata also played some smart shots to put the Indonesian up 10-14.
Adinata was quick in his comeback and had several cross court wins and body smashes. A return across the line at the back took it to 14-15 before re-paring to 16-16 when Branoy went wide again.
Pannui dominated the short rallies after taking a 19-17 lead before the match ended abruptly following Adenata’s injury.
Bonding Struggles
A former two-time winner here, Sindhu couldn’t play his aggressive game as Tunjung managed to keep control of the rally with a solid defense and hit hard to finish the point.
The Indians were leading 3-0 early on but quickly evaporated with Tunjung producing some fine shots to turn the tide.
The Indonesian player tried to pull Sindh from corner to corner for a 6-4 lead. But he went wide and also hit Sindhi with a tasty reverse chip to make it 6-6.
Tunjung tried to combine his attacks to keep Sindhu guessing but the Indian defended well to hold on, advancing at 9-7. He entered the second round at 11-8 with straight punches and returns to the body.
But things changed after I changed sides. Tunjung’s flat forehand helped level par before moving quickly to 15-12 with a series of offensive runs.
Another forehand from Tunjung was followed by a winner from Sindh, but the Indonesian kept the momentum going with a few striking winners. Tunjung had six points in the game as Sindhu scored another winner.
The second game started with a draw before Tunjung suffered a forehand injury at 5-5. But that had no effect on the Indonesian, who kept control on the break with an 11-9 advantage.
Coach Vidhi Chaudhary keeps Sindhu motivated but doesn’t have much of an impact on India as Tunjung continues to make life difficult for them.
The Indonesian athlete looked a little tired and made a few mistakes but he didn’t let the match pass.
He quickly caught six match points after Al Sindh made another mistake. The Indian made three saves including two on the ground. However, Sindh missed his shot after another sensational rally to fall in the semis.
