H. S. Prannoy reached his first final in over a year but he was in no mood to celebrate.
The Indian men’s singles shuttler was still in shock after seeing his Indonesian opponent Christian Adinata retire while trailing 17-19 in the last four at the Axiata Arena yesterday.
Adinata fell awkwardly and appeared to pull his hamstring and was forced to withdraw from the match.
“It’s really not the way I wanted to reach the final,” said Prannoy, who made it into his first final since finishing runners-up at the Swiss Open last year.
“I’m someone who has gone through a lot of injuries and I know how tough it is to come back every time.”
It was a sad end to world No. 57 Christian’s tournament after the 21-year-old came through the qualifying round to reach his first ever World Tour Super 500 last four.
The Indonesian had been in a rich vein of form as he had captured gold in the SEA Games in Cambodia just before this tournament.
“It’s sad to see someone who is playing his best badminton of his career suffer an injury,” said Prannoy.
“It’s really not easy to play from the qualifiers and reach the semi-finals.
“I’m sure he will come back soon.
“It will take a while for it to sink in for me as well.”
World No. 9 Prannoy will face either China’s world No. 34 Weng Hongyang or Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi (No. 24) for the title today.
On whether he will have an advantage in the final after playing a shorter match in the last four, Prannoy said: “It might give me an edge but I had three very long matches out there.
“When it comes to the World Tour Super 500 and 750, it’s important to be fresh for every match.
“I might be better tomorrow (today).”
