Danish world champion Viktor Axelsen had provided some early inspiration in the semifinals for his team – making quick work of India’s Lakshya Sen – sealing victory in 49 minutes, 21-13, 21-13.
“To give some power to my teammates, that was my goal today,” he said.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
In the end, India and Denmark were deadlocked in a 2-2 tie, and 13th ranked out-of-form Rasmus Gemke was unable to overcome Prannoy, who is 23rd in the world.
Prannoy suffered a nasty slip and injury scare in the first game which he lost 13-21.
But it was all one-way traffic in games two and three – Gemke who was playing in his first tournament all year didn’t have the match fitness to cope after an injury-plagued 2021.
Prannoy galloped away to victory 21-9, 21-12, as his teammates danced and cheered.
India will now face defending champions Indonesia in Sunday’s final.
World No 2 Kento Momota from Japan, suffered his second defeat of the week, coming off second best to Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting, 21-13, 14-21, 21-12, as Indonesia beat Japan 3-2.
Yamaguchi slumps
Meanwhile, in the women’s Uber Cup, world No 1 Akane Yamaguchi suffered a second defeat in three days, as Japan were dumped out in the semifinals by South Korea on Friday afternoon.
An Se-young’s battling win over Yamaguchi set the Koreans on their way to a 3-0 victory and a place in Saturday’s final of the women’s team championships against China.
Holders China defeated hosts Thailand by the same 3-0 scoreline in Bangkok in the other semifinal.
Cheered on by her Japanese teammates whacking drums and shaking tambourines, world champion Yamaguchi dominated the first game 21-15 against the world No 4 An.
She also looked in control early in the second game, but the 20-year-old An was able to turn around a six-point deficit.
A spate of unforced errors from Yamaguchi also contributed to An’s change of fortune as she won the second game 21-18.
Yamaguchi carved out a five-point lead in the deciding game but a seven-point run from An saw Yamaguchi’s frustrations grow.
An epic 44-shot rally took its toll on the Japanese as An levelled the scores at 18-18.
Two critical errors from Yamaguchi saw the youngster gain the upper hand and then seal the match 21-18, before lying on the floor screaming in delight.
“During the game, I tried to increase the speed of the shuttle but … I would lose control, it caused many mistakes,” Yamaguchi told reporters.
On Wednesday, Yamaguchi suffered a shock loss to Bilqis Prasista, a teenage Indonesian rookie ranked 333rd in the world.