Prannoy HS: Slow and steady

Hyderabad: Twenty-two-year-old shuttler Prannoy H.S. recently rose to his career-best ranking of World No. 12 in the men’s singles rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

While the journey wasn’t easy, he fought all odds to continue his passion for badminton and today he is one of the three Indians in the top 15. The shuttler from Kerala who has been training in Hyderabad for five years, talks about his journey.

“I am really happy to have risen to World No. 12. We have three Indians in the top 12… makes me happy and proud,” he says, adding, “Gopi bhaiyya had the belief that I had the potential to be at the top of the game.”

“I was really interested in the game and grew up watching my dad, who worked in the Air Force and also played championships for them. He noticed my interest and when I was 10, I enrolled in a summer coaching camp. I went on to play my first tournament in the next six months. That’s how I started,” says Prannoy, who is pursuing his BA final year from Indira Gandhi Open University.

But things back home were not sound. His family was not financially secure to fund his training. “I was confused whether to continue the game or not. There weren’t many who were ready to help. I would need a trainer and pursuing the game would make it a costly affair. But my parents let me train. Their only condition was that I do well in my academics too, which I did.”

His performance got better with every tournament. But that was the time he had to decide whether to quit badminton and concentrate on studies alone. “I told my parents that if I wanted to play, I can only play now.” And they let him follow his passion.

Prannoy came to Hyderabad to train at the Gopichand Badminton Academy and hasn’t looked back since. He was noticed after winning the silver medal in Boys’ Singles at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.

“By 2009, I was selected for the Indian Team but wasn’t doing well on the international circuit. But the win at the Summer Youth Olympics gave me the required confidence. Lot of people back home cheered for me, recognised me and that’s when I got a lot of popularity,” says Prannoy, who is supported by the GoSports Foundation since 2011.

Prannoy considers 2014 his best year as he made it into the quarters and semifinals of the 2014 India Open Grand Prix Gold, 2014 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold and the 2014 Vietnam Open Grand Prix among others.

This year, too, has been good for Prannoy, who reached the semifinals of the 2015 India Open Grand Prix Gold. He also went on to defeat World No. 2 Jan Ø. Jørgensen. An unfortunate toe injury at the Singapore Open in April had put him off the court for a few months, but the player is on the road to recovery and will be back on the court with the World Championships to be held in August at Indonesia.

At a point like this, sponsorship plays an important role. “I have been doing consistently well but haven’t got an individual sponsor yet. It would help me a lot for my Olympic preparations if some organisation or corporate house came forward to help. Only two guys can qualify for the Rio Olympics, and I need to work hard to secure a place.”