It's yet another all-India final this year as HS Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap will feature in the Men's singles title match of US Open 2017 in Anaheim on Sunday, July 23.
It all started when Sameer Verma and Sai Praneeth played the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold title match earlier in February. The latter and Kidambi Srikanth followed it up by becoming the first Indian pair to feature in a Superseries final at Singapore Open in April.
Eventually, one of the two shuttlers will also become the sixth Indian to have won an international title this season after Saina Nehwal (Malaysia Masters), Sameer Verma (Syed Modi), PV Sindhu (Syed Modi, India Open), Sai Praneeth (Thailand Open, Singapore Open) and Kidambi Srikanth (Indonesia Open, Australia Open).
Prannoy - Road to the final
The second-seeded shuttler faced a disappointing early exit at Canada Grand Prix earlier this month shortly after his stunning wins over Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long in Indonesia. However, the world number 23 has bounced back to form in the ongoing tournament.
Following three easy wins, Prannoy faced Canada Open champion Kanta Tsuneyama in the quarter-final, which he won after coming back from behind 10-21, 21-15, 21-18.
Prannoy went on knock out former World Championships bronze medallist and two-time champion Tien Minh Nguyen with a 21-14, 21-19 straight games win in the semi-final on Saturday.
Kashyap -- Road to the final
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion missed the first three months of the season after struggling with injury concerns and was making a slow but steady comeback. The 30-year-old hit peak form when he dumped out defending champion Lee Hyun IL in the first-round of the ongoing tournament.
Kashyap struggled a bit against unseeded South Korean shuttler Kwang Hee Heo, but he held the nerves to reach the final with a 15-21, 21-15, 21-16 that took an hour and six minutes to come his way.
The two shuttlers have met twice in the past, with both enjoying a win each. Notably, Prannoy won their last meeting at 2014 German Open in straight games.
On Sunday, Prannoy, given his recent form, will start as a favourite and he will be motivated to win the title as it will make him a strong contender for a berth at August's World Championships as India's third representative after Srikanth and Praneeth.
When will the match start
The final between Prannoy and Kashyap is the second match on American Convention Center on Sunday. The title matches start at 1pm local time, 1:30am IST [Monday]
How to watches matches on TV, online
India: TV: Star Sports 2. Live streaming: Hotstar
Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport. Live streaming: Astro Go
Singapore: TV: Star Hub. Live streaming: Starhub Go
China: TV: CCTV 5+
Worldwide live streaming: BWF YouTube channel [Not available in India]
Live scores can be followed on BWF's official website.
