Orleans (France): India’s upcoming men’s shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat marched into his first-ever final at BWF World Tour Super 300 event after defeating Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in straight games 21-12, 21-9 in semifinal at the ongoing Orleans Masters Badminton 2023, here on Saturday.
Priyanshu’s only previous final on the BWF World Tour was at last year’s Odisha Open — a Super 100 event, where he lost to compatriot Kiran George at Cuttack.
In the semi-finals against Nhat Nguyen, the world No. 35 in the latest badminton rankings, Priyanshu looked second-best in the early exchanges and fell 5-2 behind.
However, the Indian shuttler won the next six points on the trot to turn the game on its head. From that point on, there was no looking back for the 21-year-old, who was a part of India’s historic Thomas Cup-winning squad in Bangkok last year.
The 21-year old Rajawat cruised through the first game and carried the momentum into the second by winning the first four points in a row. It was one-way traffic in the Indian’s favour for the remainder of the match as he wrapped up the affair in quick time.
In the final, Priyanshu will face the winner of the other semi-final fixture between China’s Lei Lan Xi and Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen.
Priyanshu, the last remaining Indian challenge at the France meet, has been in terrific form in the tournament. In the second round, he upset world No. 12 Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, who had won the Madrid Spain Masters title heading into the Orleans Masters, where he was the top seed.
–IANS