While large parts of India were glued to the World T20 action on Sunday evening, in far away Switzerland another Indian was making the country proud on the badminton court. HS Prannoy won the Swiss Open last week, defeating Marc Zwiebler in the final, becoming the latest Indian badminton star to take the sport by storm.
But it wasn't all smooth sailing for Prannoy from the start. He had endured a difficult opening round exit at the All England Championships and heading into the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, was depressed at the early exit from the prestigious event.
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“I was very disappointed with my loss at the All England Open. It was very demotivating for me because I had worked extremely hard. I thought I was playing really well but I lost momentum and the whole match turned and slipped from my control in a matter of five minutes.
“The first couple of days after this loss were very tough and I was depressed. But I told myself that this wasn't the end of the world and there are many more tournaments coming up so I should prepare myself for them.
“I struggled with confidence in the first two rounds of the Swiss Open. On the flip side, since I hadn't exerted myself too much at All England, I came here relatively fresh. After I managed to cross the first two hurdles, I started to do well from the quarterfinal stage,” Prannoy told Sportskeeda in an interview.
Heading into the competition, Prannoy kept his expectations low and felt that as the tournaments progressed, as he began to get a few victories under his belt, his confidence levels started to increase.
“Going into the tournament, I didn't expect to win it. I wasn't playing my best game and wasn't feeling very confident. But as the tournament progressed, I was able to play some good matches and win this title, so I am very happy.
“Winning this title was a much-needed boost for me. After winning the 2014 Indonesian Open title, I have won another title now. At this point I really needed to win,” he added.
Prannoy reached the final on the back of a hard-fought win in the semifinal but felt that the change in shuttle in the final helped him a great deal, in terms of his smashes.
“I was just not able to control the shuttle and the conditions were slow. He was playing better and, I left the first game. I knew that in the second game if I could stick with him for the first 11-12 points, I could crack him. I wanted to win the second set in under 15 points, because if it was a close set, then he would have the upper hand going into the third set. The third set was close.
“I was lucky in the end; the umpire called a strange fault. It was a tough match and it was good to have won. The finals was different as the shuttles were changed. When I went in for practice before the match, realised that the shuttles were much faster and it would allow me to smash better. Going in, I knew it would be a long match, especially since Zwiebler is a player who retrieves everything. I started attacking in the first ten points and it worked well.
Initially, I was a bit confused about whether I should play an attacking game or play long rallies. I started attacking and his defence cracked and that gave me confidence. After initial hiccups, I started playing well,” he added.
“I have 1% chance of making it to Rio”
Despite that win, however, Prannoy didn't express too much confidence when asked about his chances to qualify for the Rio Olympics in a few months’ time.
“It will be very tough for me to qualify for Rio. As of now, I have to earn 4000 more points to have a realistic shot at qualifying. For that, I have to play at least quarterfinals or semi-finals at the India Open, Malaysia Open and Singapore Open. I have a lot of points to defend in these tournaments as well, since I did well here last year. I played the quarterfinals in India Open, and quarters at Malaysia and Singapore as well.
“In addition to defending these points, I have to earn 4000 more to be in the top 16. This would be difficult, and I have tough draws in these tournaments as well. I will play these like normal matches, and not put too much pressure on myself. If you ask me, I have a 1% chance of making it to Rio, there is a 99% chance that I won’t qualify. If I had a couple of good tournaments 3 months back, then I would have had a good chance of making it,” Prannoy said.
Last time in London in 2012, India returned with their maiden medal in badminton, courtesy Saina Nehwal’s bronze. Prannoy feels that the present group of players has it in them to win more than one in Rio.
“I think we have really good chances of winning more medals this time. Last time, we had one player in Women’s Singles, one in Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles. But, this time, we will have more players. Saina and Sindhu both have very good chances of qualifying. Even in Men’s Singles Kashyap or Ajay Jayaram could also qualify, along with Srikanth.
"The way Srikanth is playing, he has very good chances of winning. We even have a men’s doubles pair now, and Manu and Sumeeth are doing really well.Anything can happen in Olympics with the draws. Jwala and Ashwini also have very strong prospects,” he said.
Prannoy also credited the GoSpots Foundation as well as former India captain Rahul Dravid for their help and support in his career.
“I was one of the first athletes selected for the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme in 2014,and I have had some sessions with him that have helped me immensely. However, given our schedules me a lot. He has played at the highest levels, so he understands our challenges. He gave me a couple of tips, and strategies to try out that have worked very well for me.
“GoSports Foundation has been a part of my journey for the last five years, and they have helped fund International tournaments for me. They have also assisted me with injury management and rehabilitation, as well as mental conditioning.
“Recently, the Foundation has helped organise sessions for me with Girish (Leadership Trainer and Executive Coach Girish Manimaran). He has really helped me evolve as a person, not just a sportsman.
“We are taking a more holistic approach in these sessions, and they are bringing me results on court also,” he concluded.
