BWF World Tour Finals: HS Prannoy defeats Olympic Champion Viktor Axelsen

Indian shuttler HS Prannoy ended his season on a high after defeating world number 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark by 14-21, 21-17, 21-18 in his last game of the ongoing BWF World Tour Finals. He had already been knocked out of the tournament after losing his first two matches, but signed out with a major swoop.

This is only the second win by HS Prannoy against the reigning Olympic champion and world champion. Previously, Prannoy defeated Axelsen in the 2021 Indonesia Masters.

Axelsen started well by winning the first set easily with 21-14. HS Prannoy made a good comeback in the second set and started troubling Axelsen with the range of his shots winning it by 21-17.

The decider set looked like it belonged to Prannoy as he raced into a quick 9-6 lead before Axelsen started taking points. However, Prannoy kept calm to win the set and the match with a score line of 14-21, 21-17, 21-18.

Despite the defeat, Viktor Axelsen is through to the next round of the BWF World tour finals.

HS Prannoy finished his BWF World Tour finals with two losses and one win. Earlier, HS Prannoy lost to the Japanese youngster Kodai Naraoka in the first game and then lost to Lu Guang Zu of China in the second game-ending his challenge here.