World Badminton Championship Semi Finals: HS Prannoy Loses To Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Settles For Bronze

Notwithstanding the loss, it was a brilliant achievement for Prannoy as he became only the fifth Indian men's singles player to win a World Championships medal.

PTI

Updated on: 26 August 2023 5:28 pm

HS Prannoy

HS Prannoy's dream run at the World Championships ended after he lost in three games to world number 3 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the men's singles semifinal to sign off with a bronze, extending India's record of having at least one medallist in the showpiece since 2011.
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?The 31-year-old Prannoy squandered an opening game advantage and a 5-1 lead in the second as Vitidsarn, a three-time former world junior champion, dished out better defence and attack to win 18-21 21-13 21-14 and seal a second successive final spot.
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?Notwithstanding the loss, it was a brilliant achievement for Prannoy as he became only the fifth Indian men's singles player to win a World Championships medal.

?Kidambi Srikanth (silver), Lakshya Sen (bronze), B Sai Praneeth (bronze) and Prakash Padukone (bronze) are the other medallists in men's singles.
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?Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu won five singles medals, including a gold in 2019, and Saina Nehwal (silver and bronze) claimed two, while the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa bagged a bronze in 2011 and Satwiksairaj rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched a bronze in 2022.
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?A day after knocking out Olympic gold medallist and defending champion Viktor Axelsen, Prannoy, who claimed Malaysia Masters title and a runner-up finish at Australian Open this season, failed to find his best as his defence looked shaky and attack lacked consistency during the 76-minute clash.
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?Prannoy had lost to Vitidsarn in two tight games at the All England Championships last year and knew about the Thai's defensive prowess and ability to retrieve.
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?India’s top-ranked men’s singles shuttler made a good start but signs of exhaustion set in from the second game, perhaps due the three-game matches that he played in the last two days.