Sindhu in Macau Open final, Prannoy ousted

Indian woman shuttler P.V. Sindhu is one win away from defending her $120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold singles title while youngster H.S. Prannoy faltered in the men's semi-final at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion here Saturday.

While two-time World Championships bronze medallist Sindhu registered a comprehensive 21-14, 21-15 win in 42 minutes over Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungpan, World No. 26 Prannoy lost 16-21, 21-16, 12-21 in an hour against Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong.

World No. 23 Busanan tried her best against Sindhu but failed against the Indian, who was very aggressive.

Busanan started the first game on a bright note, taking a 5-2 lead but Sindhu fought back to equalise at 5-5. After a brief tussle, the Indian World No. 11 was back in business and took a 13-9 lead.

Busanan had her moments, winning three straight points and reduced the gap to one. But, the Hyderabadi upped her game and notched up six points on the trot to take the first game 21-15.

In the second game, Sindhu dominated the game and never allowed Busanan to make a match of it.

With this win, the 19-year-old Indian extended a 5-0 lead in career meetings.

In the final, Sindhu will face the World No.91 South Korean Kim Hyo Min, who stunned the Chinese World No.19 Yu Sun 15-21, 24-22, 21-10 in a marathon encounter that lasted an hour and 22 minutes.

In the other match, Prannoy lost the first game but managed to equalise in the second game.

However, the Indian struggled in the third game against World No. 34 Wong and lost it 21-12.

While Wong tilted the first game in his favour with five straight points from 14 to 19, the 22-year-old Prannoy pocketed points regularly which helped him win the second game.

However, Wong raced to a 11-3 lead in the third game, forcing Prannoy to fight back and equalise at the 11-point mark. But the Indian ran out energy and conceded eighth successive points to lose the game 12-21.