<p>HS Prannoy's dream run at the World Championships ended after he lost in three games to world number 3 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the men's singles semifinal to sign off with a bronze, extending India's record of having at least one medallist in the showpiece since 2011.</p>.<p>The 31-year-old Prannoy squandered an opening game advantage and a 5-1 lead in the second as 22-year-old Vitidsarn, a three-time former world junior champion, showed his mental fortitude and produced better defence and attack to win 18-21 21-13 21-14 and seal a second successive final spot.</p>.<p>Notwithstanding the loss, it was a brilliant achievement for Prannoy as he became only the fifth Indian men's singles player to win a World Championships medal.</p>.<p>Kidambi Srikanth (silver), Lakshya Sen (bronze), B Sai Praneeth (bronze) and Prakash Padukone (bronze) are the other medallists in men's singles.</p>.<p>Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu won five singles medals, including a gold in 2019, and Saina Nehwal (silver and bronze) claimed two, while the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa bagged a bronze in 2011 and Satwiksairaj rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched a bronze in 2022.</p>.<p>A day after knocking out Olympic gold medallist and defending champion Viktor Axelsen, ninth-seeded Prannoy, who claimed Malaysia Masters title and a runner-up finish at Australian Open this season, failed to find his best as his defence looked shaky and attack lacked consistency during the 76-minute clash.</p>.<p>Prannoy had lost to Vitidsarn in two tight games at the All England Championships last year and knew about the Thai's defensive prowess and ability to retrieve.</p>.<p>India's top-ranked men’s singles shuttler gave his everything and made a good start but signs of exhaustion set in from the second game, perhaps due to the three-game matches that he played in the last two days.</p>.<p>Prannoy started with his trademark straight smash but third seed Vitidsarn produced two winners to claw his way back at 3-3. A short lift was disposed off by Prannoy to make the scoreline 5-5.</p>.<p>The Indian tried to extend the rallies and looked to draw out errors from the Thai as he led 9-5 in a jiffy. Another brilliant cross-court smash and a backhand drop helped the Indian gain 11-5 lead with seven straight points.</p>.<p>Prannoy controlled the rallies and found the backline with his delectable smashes.</p>.<p>Soon, he was up 16-8. The Indian's shot selection was spot on as he followed up his shots at the net well and his attacking crosses made the Thai run from one flank to another.</p>.<p>Prannoy set up a point only to miss it with a casual-looking shot at the net, but he made up for it with an on-the-line-return which gave him three game points. He smashed out next.</p>.<p>Vitidsarn took a medical time out for a bleeding cut on his knee region. On resumption, a tight net shot gave the Indian the bragging rights.</p>.<p>After the change of sides, Prannoy stepped up the pace and produced a pirouette backhand smash, followed by another cross court forehand to open up a 4-0 lead.</p>.<p>Vitidsarn cut the deficit to 4-5 with Prannoy making few errors, including two long shots. The Thai started using diagonal shots and strengthen his defence to draw parity at 5-5.</p>.<p>However, things went downhill for the Indian after that as he committed several errors. His shots started going wide and long too many times.</p>.<p>The Indian tried to reduce the deficit to 12-15 after pouncing on a weak return at net following a lucky net chord. However, Vitidsarn soon moved to 18-13 with a superb hold-and-flick shot to set up a point.</p>.<p>Prannoy then sprayed into net to hand over seven game points to Vitidsarn, who converted after the Indian went long again.</p>.<p>The pace was again up in the early part of the decider with Vitidsarn producing three smashes to go 3-1 up. Two tired looking shots gave Vitidsarn 5-1 lead before Prannoy won a fast-paced rally with a backhand drive.</p>.<p>The Indian looked to step up the attack but struggled with his length at the backline as Vitidsarn led 7-3. A down the line jump smash from Prannoy and a long shot from Vitidsarn helped the Indian make it 7-8.</p>.<p>The young Thai, however, ensured a four points advantage at the interval with a smash and reverse slice.</p>.<p>On resumption, a brilliant tumbling net shot was followed by two net errors as Vitidsarn's lead swelled to 14-8.</p>.<p>A two point burst helped Prannoy make it 10-14 before the Thai produced a delightful backhand return to leave Prannoy flat on the floor.</p>.<p>The Thai soon moved to 19-13 with Prannoy going to net and then wide. The Indian responded with a down-the-line smash. But another return went to net and the Thai had six match points and he converted with Prannoy smashing out again. </p>
<p>HS Prannoy's dream run at the World Championships ended after he lost in three games to world number 3 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the men's singles semifinal to sign off with a bronze, extending India's record of having at least one medallist in the showpiece since 2011.</p>.<p>The 31-year-old Prannoy squandered an opening game advantage and a 5-1 lead in the second as 22-year-old Vitidsarn, a three-time former world junior champion, showed his mental fortitude and produced better defence and attack to win 18-21 21-13 21-14 and seal a second successive final spot.</p>.<p>Notwithstanding the loss, it was a brilliant achievement for Prannoy as he became only the fifth Indian men's singles player to win a World Championships medal.</p>.<p>Kidambi Srikanth (silver), Lakshya Sen (bronze), B Sai Praneeth (bronze) and Prakash Padukone (bronze) are the other medallists in men's singles.</p>.<p>Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu won five singles medals, including a gold in 2019, and Saina Nehwal (silver and bronze) claimed two, while the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa bagged a bronze in 2011 and Satwiksairaj rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched a bronze in 2022.</p>.<p>A day after knocking out Olympic gold medallist and defending champion Viktor Axelsen, ninth-seeded Prannoy, who claimed Malaysia Masters title and a runner-up finish at Australian Open this season, failed to find his best as his defence looked shaky and attack lacked consistency during the 76-minute clash.</p>.<p>Prannoy had lost to Vitidsarn in two tight games at the All England Championships last year and knew about the Thai's defensive prowess and ability to retrieve.</p>.<p>India's top-ranked men’s singles shuttler gave his everything and made a good start but signs of exhaustion set in from the second game, perhaps due to the three-game matches that he played in the last two days.</p>.<p>Prannoy started with his trademark straight smash but third seed Vitidsarn produced two winners to claw his way back at 3-3. A short lift was disposed off by Prannoy to make the scoreline 5-5.</p>.<p>The Indian tried to extend the rallies and looked to draw out errors from the Thai as he led 9-5 in a jiffy. Another brilliant cross-court smash and a backhand drop helped the Indian gain 11-5 lead with seven straight points.</p>.<p>Prannoy controlled the rallies and found the backline with his delectable smashes.</p>.<p>Soon, he was up 16-8. The Indian's shot selection was spot on as he followed up his shots at the net well and his attacking crosses made the Thai run from one flank to another.</p>.<p>Prannoy set up a point only to miss it with a casual-looking shot at the net, but he made up for it with an on-the-line-return which gave him three game points. He smashed out next.</p>.<p>Vitidsarn took a medical time out for a bleeding cut on his knee region. On resumption, a tight net shot gave the Indian the bragging rights.</p>.<p>After the change of sides, Prannoy stepped up the pace and produced a pirouette backhand smash, followed by another cross court forehand to open up a 4-0 lead.</p>.<p>Vitidsarn cut the deficit to 4-5 with Prannoy making few errors, including two long shots. The Thai started using diagonal shots and strengthen his defence to draw parity at 5-5.</p>.<p>However, things went downhill for the Indian after that as he committed several errors. His shots started going wide and long too many times.</p>.<p>The Indian tried to reduce the deficit to 12-15 after pouncing on a weak return at net following a lucky net chord. However, Vitidsarn soon moved to 18-13 with a superb hold-and-flick shot to set up a point.</p>.<p>Prannoy then sprayed into net to hand over seven game points to Vitidsarn, who converted after the Indian went long again.</p>.<p>The pace was again up in the early part of the decider with Vitidsarn producing three smashes to go 3-1 up. Two tired looking shots gave Vitidsarn 5-1 lead before Prannoy won a fast-paced rally with a backhand drive.</p>.<p>The Indian looked to step up the attack but struggled with his length at the backline as Vitidsarn led 7-3. A down the line jump smash from Prannoy and a long shot from Vitidsarn helped the Indian make it 7-8.</p>.<p>The young Thai, however, ensured a four points advantage at the interval with a smash and reverse slice.</p>.<p>On resumption, a brilliant tumbling net shot was followed by two net errors as Vitidsarn's lead swelled to 14-8.</p>.<p>A two point burst helped Prannoy make it 10-14 before the Thai produced a delightful backhand return to leave Prannoy flat on the floor.</p>.<p>The Thai soon moved to 19-13 with Prannoy going to net and then wide. The Indian responded with a down-the-line smash. But another return went to net and the Thai had six match points and he converted with Prannoy smashing out again. </p>