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  HS Prannoy pockets Swiss Open title

HS Prannoy pockets Swiss Open title

PTI
Published : Mar 21, 2016, 5:51 am IST
Updated : Mar 21, 2016, 5:51 am IST

Up and coming shuttler H.S.

H.S. Prannoy
 H.S. Prannoy

Up and coming shuttler H.S. Prannoy clinched his second Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament title by notching up a straight game victory over Marc Zwiebler of Germany in the summit clash of the Swiss Open here on Sunday.

Seeded 13th in the $120,000 tournament, Prannoy outclassed seventh seeded Zwiebler 21-18, 21-15 in a 45-minute final.

The 23-year-old Prannoy, who had won the Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold in 2014, had been in fine touch with wins over higher-ranked players, including Rajiv Ouseph of England, in this tournament.

Prannoy began the match on a confident note and surged to a 7-4 lead in the first game before the German, ranked 19th as compared to the Indian’s 27th, fought his way back into the match.

The two were tied at 18-18 and it was from there that the Indian took three straight points at a crucial juncture to take the opening game 21-18.

With the opening game in his pocket, Prannoy grew in confidence as he outclassed his more experienced German opponent in the second game to win the match. The Indian led the second game from start to finish with the German playing a catch-up game.

Prannoy opened up a 3-0 lead and then increased the gap to 13-8. Though Zwiebler narrowed down the gap in scoreline a bit, Prannoy was in no mood to squander the advantage and held his nerves to eventually take the match.

Location: Switzerland, Basel-Stadt, Basel