Roof leak causes disruption in HS Prannoy’s match at Malaysia Open – Times of India

HS Prannoy. (Photo by Shi Tang/Getty Images)

India’s HS Prannoy faced an unexpected interruption during his first match of the Malaysia Super 100 badminton tournament. His match against Canada’s Brian Yang was suspended mid-game due to a leaky roof at the Axiata Arena on Tuesday.
Prannoy, playing his first tournament since the Olympics, held a comfortable lead of 21-12, 6-3. Rainwater started leaking through the roof onto Court 3, halting the match approximately 25 minutes after it began.
Play resumed around 4:15 PM after a delay exceeding an hour. However, the persistent leak forced another stoppage.
Yang had taken an 11-9 lead in the second game when officials decided to suspend the match. The match will now continue on Wednesday with the score at 21-12, 9-11.
“Prannoy’s match has been suspended. He will start with the same score tomorrow. A decision regarding other matches will be taken by 8:30 PM,” India coach RMV Gurusaidutt, who was present at the court, told PTI.
Prannoy had alerted the chair umpire to the water accumulating on the left front side of the court. Organisers then inspected the area, leading to the suspension of the match.
Matches on Court 2 were also affected by the leaking roof and were temporarily stopped. Meanwhile, matches on Court 1 continued without interruption.
Organisers were observed using white towels in an attempt to dry the affected courts.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Indian women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the next round. They secured a straightforward victory against the Thai pair of Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai.
The sixth-seeded Indian duo won the match 21-10, 21-10 in just 30 minutes. This win secured their place in the round of 16.
Coming off a successful performance at the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament in Lucknow, Treesa and Gayatri dominated the match. They quickly established a 17-8 lead against the unseeded Thai pair.
The second game initially saw a close contest, with the score tied at 8-8. Treesa and Gayatri then pulled away, winning the game and the match decisively.