Orleans Masters 2023 badminton: Priyanshu Rajawat makes maiden BWF Super 300 final

Indian badminton player Priyanshu Rajawat marched into the men’s singles final at the Orleans Master 2023 with a comfortable 21-12, 21-9 win over Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Sunday’s title decider will be Priyanshu Rajawat’s first-ever BWF Super 300 tournament final appearance.

The Indian badminton player’s only previous final on the BWF World Tour was at last year’s Odisha Open - a Super 100 event. Priyanshu lost to compatriot Kiran George in that final at Cuttack.

In the semi-finals against Nhat Nguyen, the world No. 35 in the latest badminton rankings, Priyanshu Rajawat looked second-best in the early exchanges and fell 5-2 behind.

World No. 58 Priyanshu Rajawat, however, 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.

Priyanshu 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 the Indian youngster wrapped up the affair in quick time.

In the final, Priyanshu Rajawat will face Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen, who won the other semi-final fixture against China’s Lei Lan Xi .

Priyanshu Rajawat, the last remaining Indian challenge at the France meet, has been in terrific form in the tournament and upset world No. 12 Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the second round. Nishimoto had won the Madrid Spain Masters title heading into the Orleans Masters, where he was the top seed.