Indian shuttlers create a unique record in Grand Prix Gold tournaments

With World No. 23 HS Prannoy clinching the US Open Grand Prix Gold title on Sunday, Indian shuttlers have created a unique record. This is the first time in the 11-year history of Grand Prix Gold tournaments that Indian singles exponents have managed to win five titles.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) sanctioned the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold series of events in 2007. The latter offers winners a whopping 7, 000 ranking points and is fourth in tournament hierarchy after the BWF events (World Championships and Olympic Games), the Superseries Premier and the Superseries tournaments.

Indian shuttlers break record achieved in 2014 and 2015

Since its inception, 2014 and 2015 were the only seasons in which Indian badminton players won as many as four titles at the Grand Prix Gold level.

But this year, they have already outdone themselves with four months of the calendar and four more Grand Prix Gold tournaments still to go.

The Indian players kicked off the 2017 season with a bang when Saina Nehwal, who was still recuperating from a knee surgery, went on to win the Malaysia Masters title in January.

The same month, Indian singles players brought more glory. At the Syed Modi International in Lucknow, India grabbed both the singles titles with Sameer Verma and PV Sindhu reigning supreme in men’s singles and women’s singles categories respectively.

B Sai Praneeth then followed up his big Singapore Open Superseries win with a triumph at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold in the first week of June.

HS Prannoy then made amends in California for the setback he suffered at the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier last month. The 25-year-old had squandered five match points in the semi-finals of the Jakarta tournament to end up with a heartbreaking loss.

This was the Kerala shuttler’s first title since the Swiss Open in March 2016 and his overall third career accomplishment on the BWF circuit.

The title-winning spree at the Grand Prix Gold level coupled with the four Superseries wins that India has achieved in 2017 clearly point to the country’s incredible improvement in the sport. With a great infrastructure already in place, influx of foreign coaches and focus on fitness, Indian badminton has already established itself as a rising powerhouse aiming for the loftiest pedestal.