"The body took a toll, I would say. Already everything is paining" - HS Prannoy after beating Lakshya Sen at BWF World Championships

Old warhorse HS Prannoy has stated that one has to work hard to beat a player like Lakshya Sen and was elated that he could pull the win at the ongoing BWF World Championships in Tokyo.

Prannoy beat Lakshya Sen, the Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist, 17-21, 21-16, 21-17 on Thursday (August 25) to advance to the quarter-finals.

HS Prannoy, ranked 18th in the world, will face World No. 23 Zhao Jun Peng in the quarter-finals. The Indian lost to Peng in the semi-finals at the recent Indonesia Open Super and will be looking to avenge that loss.

Speaking to journalists in the mixed zone after his match against Sen, HS Prannoy stated that his body had taken a toll after an intense 75-minute contest. He said:

“It’s always tough to beat players like him, you have to dig deep. Especially in (these) conditions. He’s a retriever, his defence is super solid and you won’t get easy points from him. You need to work for each and every point out there. Yeah, the body took a toll, I would say. Already everything is paining.

"I’m wondering how I’ll play tomorrow but it feels good. He’s one guy who is tough to beat and it’ll give a lot of confidence to me."

Speaking about how he managed to stage a comeback after losing the first game, HS Prannoy said:

“I think the first game there were a lot of patches where I played a lot of wrong shots, they weren’t good shots from my hand. The patch from 8-8 to 13-8 is the patch where the first game slipped for me. In the second game, I was probably a little more focused, more patient to prolong the rallies and that probably got me a few more points."

HS Prannoy is on a roll at the ongoing World Championships as he started the campaign by beating Austria’s Luka Wraber 21-11, 21-11 in the first round. He then went on to beat World No. 2 and local favorite Kento Momota 21-17, 21-16 in the second round before running into compatriot Lakshya Sen.

HS Prannoy reached the Swiss Open Super 300 final in March and was instrumental in India winning the Thomas Cup for the first time.

"Lakshya Sen has improved massively" - HS Prannoy

Lakshya Sen has had a good run over the last couple of years. He won the bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships after losing to Kidmabi Srikanth in the semi-finals.

Read: Tamil Nadu teenager Sankar Muthusamy jumps to World No. 1 spot in junior BWF rankings

The 21-year-old clinched his first Super 500 title when he beat reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew in the final at the India Open. He continued his good run in the German Open, beating Viktor Axelsen in the semi-finals before going down to Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the final.

Sen would then win the silver medal at the prestigious All England Championships and was an integral part of the gold medal-winning Indian men's team at the Thomas Cup. The young Indian shuttler also won the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, beating Ng Tze Yong in a pulsating final.

Speaking about playing against Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy said:

“It’s always tough. He’s one player who has improved tremendously in the last year. In the circuit, he’s the one guy who has improved massively and the guy who has very high confidence in the last six months."