CWG 2018 | HS Prannoy not worried about familiar foes
HS Prannoy has stated that he is not worried about the familiar foes such as three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei. He feels that it is the surprise element of the unheralded shutters, who could pose a bigger threat to his medal aspirations at next month's Commonwealth Games.
HS Prannoy has been playing really well in recent times, but he is faltering at crucial stages of the tournament. His last title win was in 2017 when he won the US Yonex US Open in July. Ahead of the next month’s Commonwealth Games, Prannoy has stated that he is in good shape but wary of the surprise element of the unheralded shutters.
“There are many players such as Rajiv Ouseph and Lee Chong Wei who have played in the past at CWG. But it is the others who we should be wary of. There are others who are actually good and can trouble you on certain days because you don't know how they play,” Prannoy was quoted saying by News18.
Last season, Prannoy made the superb transition from a rare talent to an emerging star when he outclassed two stalwarts former world no 1 Chong Wei and Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion Chen Long of China in successive days to reach the semifinals at the Indonesia Super Series. Prannoy’s victories became part of the badminton folklore as he emerged as the first Indian to beat the Big Three - Lee Chong Wei, Chen Long and Lin Dan (2014 French Open).
Despite being laid by some injury concerns, Prannoy showed tremendous grit as he recovered quickly and dished out some sensational performances at the All England Championship last week, to reach his maiden quarterfinals at the event.
“I didn't give much thought before the All England because I had started training after recovering from foot corns just a couple of weeks before the tournament,” the 25-year-old said.
Set to make his CWG debut, the 25-year-old is optimistic about his chances at the quadrennial event. “CWG should be good. I'm very happy to be in the CWG team. I have
Prannoy’s journey in the senior circuit has been ridden with injuries and heartbreaks and they affected his training and progress. A knee injury in 2011 before the nationals was followed by a back injury in 2012, which took more than half a year to heal. In 2014, a series of semi-final appearances at Bitburger, India Open Grand Prix Gold, Macau and a final berth at Vietnam was followed by a maiden Grand Prix Gold win at Indonesia, which saw him knocking on the top 20 bracket.
However, another injury-marred year followed, but he still managed to reach a career-best world ranking of 12. The highlight of the season was his sensational win over two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion Lin Dan in the French Open opener.
Prannoy clinched the 2016 Swiss Open but again sustained a toe injury at that year's Singapore Open and subsequently missed the Thomas Cup. He was in rampaging form at the 2017 Premier Badminton League in January but injuries to his knee and toe once again came back to haunt him.
“It's not easy to recover from injuries, train and reach top 20. I am happy the way I come back after each injury and I might not have won a super series tournament but I always believe something big will happen,” Prannoy stated.
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