Indian badminton player Priyanshu Rajawat won the men’s singles title at the Orleans Master 2023 after he beat Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 in the final in France on Sunday.
It was world No. 58 Priyanshu Rajawat’s maiden BWF Super 300 tournament final appearance. The 21-year-old’s only previous final on the BWF World Tour was at last year’s Odisha Open – a Super 100 event. He was also the first Indian to reach the men’s singles final this year.
It was also the first men’s singles title on the BWF World Tour for an Indian since January last year when Lakshya Sen bagged the India Open.
In the Orleans Masters final, after winning the first game, Rajawat made some unforced errors in the second that allowed Johannesen, 49th in the badminton rankings, to claw back in the match. The Indian badminton player won seven straight points to take the lead at 16-14. But another slew of errors from Rajawat let Johannesen seal the second game.
Rajawat made a strong start to the third game, winning the first five points. A few errors from the Indian let Johannesen close in but the Indian remained largely in control to wrap up the match in an hour and eight minutes.
Priyanshu Rajawat was the last remaining Indian challenge at the Orleans Masters. He has been in terrific form in the tournament. Rajawat 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.
Until the final, Priyanshu Rajawat, who was also a part of India’s historic Thomas Cup-winning squad in Bangkok last year, didn’t drop a single game in the entire tournament.
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