From a giant killer to a world championships medallist

Indian badminton is on an upward spiral for a few years now. The Thomas Cup victory in 2022 was a historic achievement for a nation which has been showing immense promise on the court. The clinical duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have won a title on each rung of the BWF Tour and are now ranked second in the world.

Last week, HS Prannoy cuddled in his hands a long awaited World Championships medal, a bronze he deservedly bagged in Copenhagen. The 31-year-old's transformation from a giant killer to a World Championship medallist has been quite a journey. 

With this effort, he climbed to a career best world ranking of sixth. Prannoy remains the only Indian shuttler to hold a top-10 rank since last December, a reflection of his unwavering consistency.

In typical fashion, Prannoy was unfazed by a harsh draw and powered through the rounds. He battled past his good mate Loh Kean Yew in the pre-quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Prannoy got the better of home favourite Viktor Axelsen, before falling to eventual champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in a marathon three game semifinal. Previously, in the World Championships, Prannoy had stumbled in the quarterfinals hurdle twice.

In an interaction with DH, Prannoy shed more light on his dream run: “The pre-quarters and quarterfinals were tough draws for me. It was satisfying that I could defeat both of them (Loh and Axelsen). Coming back with a World Championship medal was great and I will cherish this tournament for a very long time.”

Prannoy looked back at the Thomas Cup triumph as a game-changing moment for the future of Indian badminton. Being a part of the team, the 31-year-old battled an ankle injury and played a key role in India's maiden title.

“It was a big result for all of us. It was a motivation to the next generation of players from India to think that this is something which is achievable. Post Thomas Cup, there is a belief that we can win these events.”

Having won the Malaysia Masters in May, Prannoy believes that 2023 has been one of his best years. “I don’t know if this is my best period. I still think this is one of my best years in the circuit. In a physical sport like badminton, you have to be gritty enough to make sure that your body is in the right place every day. It takes too much of energy.

"Also you are playing against young players in the circuit who are much quicker than you and recover much faster than you in matches. It is not easy to play such a high level of badminton post 30s, but it is not impossible too. Just a right mix of everything.”

This season, Prannoy has shown a tendency to begin the first game cautiously and spend the early points analysing the opponents’ techniques. “Strategies keep changing. You have to play differently in different conditions. I just focus on what I was told to do by my coaches and put in those strategies.” said Prannoy.

A product of the famed Gopichand academy, Prannoy outlines the important role such academies play in solidifying the future of Indian badminton, “With the amount of facilities we get here, it is perfect for someone to come and focus fully on the sport. It is going to be the key going forward also. There will be much more opportunities for kids to learn the sport in a better way and start performing.”

Following his win against Axelsen, Prannoy put his index finger on his temple, replicating the trademark celebration of Marcus Rashford. The out-pouring of emotion also showed that it has been an uphill mental battle for Prannoy, who works closely with mental trainer Mon Brokman.

“We have been trying a lot of new things on the psychology side. Been working on a regular basis to adapt to a lot of conditions much better. Thereby you focus much better. That is where a lot of matches shift also. A lot of matches are mental battles. You need to keep training for that also.”

With the Asian Games approaching and Olympic qualification on the cards, Prannoy is looking at accomplishing his short-term goals. “Asian Games is just round the corner, we will have difficult opponents there. Straight from the first round it is going to be a tough fight. We’ve been playing well in the last few months. We are hopeful that we can go out there and perform and hopefully we can get to the medal standings. We are not really trying to focus on the Olympics side of things right now, important thing is to keep the short-term goals intact.”