I am strictly focused for 2017. I see myself raising the bar from the 29th spot in world ranking to 21st. The larger goal is falling under world 15. Moreover, there is the challenge to stay consistently in the top bracket. Up next is the Premier Badminton League beginning in January. In the previous edition, my team Mumbai Rockets made it to the final. Pressure is already upon our shoulders to improve the past record and better ourselves.
P.V. Sindhu bagging Olympic silver in Rio changed the whole dimension of badminton appreciation in India. Her consistent performance graph has only enhanced the fan following of badminton, which is poised to go further up in another year or two. We now play under the watchful eyes of spectators. People stay tuned to television and look forward to a tournament. A popularity of this magnitude is no mean achievement for the sport. Given better promotion mechanisms, I expect the sport to grow in gargantuan proportions in near future.
In 2016, I was fighting injuries and hiccups, resulting from of my ‘belated’ entry to the sport. My body became prone to more injuries than others, as I was, until then, not taking systematic coaching or training in badminton and was home-based. So once I got into the game, my muscles got overworked. Once we get into professional circuits, a return to the basics is no easy job. But I take past mistakes as learning opportunities. The injuries made me more aware of my body. Now I understand how to keep myself away from certain injuries and improve my performance. Also, I didn’t take proper care to maintain my world number 12 ranking in 2015.
For the past eight years, from the time I started playing in the under-19 category, I have been under the tutelage of Gopi sir (Pullela Gopichand). I spent most of my time at the Hyderabad national camp or at Gopichand Badminton Academy. Things were rather slow-paced in December. I got a cool-off time to take rest after my Hong Kong outing (a knock-out in Hong Kong open in November). There are talks of Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo joining the camp but am unaware of further updates. The year 2016 was happening on the personal front too. I graduated in Public Administration from IGNOU. Otherwise, I have been an officer with ONGC for six years. The Badminton League is scheduled to begin on January 1 in Hyderabad. My immediate aim is to win the Delhi finals.
Smashing record
Prannoy came under the spotlight winning silver in boy’s singles at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. In 2016, he bettered his professional record by beating German top seed Marc Zwiebler in the finals of the Swiss Open Grand Prix by 21-19, 21-15. A late bloomer, it was his showing in the under-19 category that brought him into the big league.
