Malaysia Masters: India's HS Prannoy enters final after opponent retires mid-game

Indonesia’s Christian concedes semi-final at Malaysian Masters to India’s World No. 9 due to knee injury; PV Sindhu loses to Gregoria Tunjung in women’s semis

Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy entered the men’s singles final of the Malaysia Masters after his opponent Christian Adinata of Indonesia conceded the semi-final match following a nasty knee injury here on Saturday. World No. 9 Prannoy was leading 19-17 when Adinata lost his footing while landing after a jump return and his left knee buckled, leaving the Indonesian shuttler grimacing in pain.

Indonesia’s Christian Adinata returns to India’s HS Prannoy during their semi-final on Saturday

The 21-year-old Adinata, a 2019 World Junior Championships winner, was quickly attended by Prannoy and the Indonesian coach before being eventually wheeled out of the court. Prannoy will now take on China’s Weng Hong Yang, who beat  Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi 21-13, 21-19, in the final on Sunday. It will be Prannoy’s first final of the season and second since the runner-up finish at the Swiss Open last year.

Also Read: Sindhu, Srikanth, Prannoy storm into Malaysia Masters quarters

Second successive defeat

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, however, couldn’t make it to the women’s singles finals after suffering a 14-21, 17-21 loss to Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. It was a second successive loss for Sindhu following seven wins against the tricky World No. 9 Indonesian. It was a one-way traffic for Prannoy, who was off to a flying start, leading 11-1 in a jiffy. However after the break, it was Aditana, who accumulated points in buckets, taking seven of the next nine points.

A jump cross court smash helped Prannoy find his confidence back but unforced errors and Adinata also playing some smart shots saw the Indonesian making it 10-14. Adinata was quick in his returns and played a few cross court winners and a body smash.

Abrupt end to the match

An on-the-line return on the backline saw him make it 14-15 before he drew parity at 16-16 when Prannoy went wide again. Prannoy dominated the short exchanges next to lead 19-17 before the match ended abruptly following the injury to Adinata.

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