St. Jakobshalle in Basel has been a happy hunting ground for Indians, in particular for HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu.
It was there that Prannoy won the Swiss Open six years ago and it was at the same venue where Indian badminton reached its zenith when Sindhu became a world champion beating Japanese Nozomi Okuhara in an epic.
The two-time Olympic medallist had reached the final of the Swiss Open last year when she lost to Spaniard Carolina Marin in straight games, and has done so again this year when she edged past Thai Supanida Katethong 21-18, 15-21, 21-19 in a thrilling 79-minute semi-final to make her third successive summit clash in the Swiss city.
Prannoy too entered the final with an upset win over Indonesian third seed and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
Sindhu, the second seed, made good use of her height, court coverage and the big smash to earn several winners and register her third win in four meetings against the unseeded Thai.
The 26-year-old made the world No 29 Katethong run from one end to the other, tiring her out to bag the first game. But the 24-year-old Thai used her southpaw advantage to take the fight to the Indian and level the contest.
Leading 16-13 in the decider, world No 7 Sindhu looked set to pocket the match but Katethong used deceptive drops and slices from the back to win five straight points to lead 18-16 and then at 19-18. In a game of who could dominate the short rallies, Sindhu displayed her intent to dig deep, get low to retrieve shuttles while maintaining her balance. The former world champion broke Katethong’s control over the rallies, making sure it was the Thai chasing the bird and win the next three points to clinch the contest.
The second seed will take on another Thai, fourth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan, for her second title this year after claiming the Syed Modi India International in Lucknow in January. The Indian has a 15-1 record against the world No 11 but Busanan has been in good form, winning the India Open in New Delhi in January.
Earlier, world No 26 Prannoy too made his way into the finals of the $180,000 event beating Ginting 21-19, 19-21, 21-18 in an hour and 12 minutes. This will be Prannoy’s first summit clash since claiming the 2017 US Open crown in Anaheim.
“The last six months have been really good. I have been in a good zone, both mentally and physically. My consistency has been better. All England was a bit disappointing but I have been playing well. I am able to move better,” Prannoy, who won his second match in three outings against the world No 5, said from Basel. “It was a tough match today. Ginting has express speed. On some days he plays extraordinary badminton so you have to be always ready for him. I am happy to be on the winning side.”
Prannoy will play Jonatan Christie, the Indonesian fourth seed and reigning Asian Games champion, who beat seventh seed Kidambi Srikanth 18-21, 21-7, 21-13 in 55 minutes. Earlier, Srikanth had won his quarter-final late on Friday after saving a matchpoint to beat Danish second seed Anders Antonsen 21-19, 19-21, 22-20.
“The last few months Indians have delivered strong results in men’s singles, reaching the final of every tournament; which is incredible. It should be fun to play Ginting because of the large support from Indonesians here,” said Prannoy.
Meanwhile, former world No 13 Ajay Jayaram retired from the sport on Saturday.