Remember the last Indian who defeated Lin Dan in a Superseries event?
If you think it was Kidambi Srikanth at the 2014 China Open, you're mistaken.
It was HS Prannoy who stunned the then World No. 1 Lin in the first round of the French Open in 2015. He climbed to a career-best ranking of 12 soon after, but as luck would have it, injuries came in the way of his steady rise. "My injuries have been troubling me since the last three years. I'm trying not to think about it so much, because it keeps coming. My body is prone to them. But I'm working on them continuously during training and rehab."
The 24-year-old Prannoy has been out of action after suffering a first-round defeat at the India Open in March this year. He will make his comeback at the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier, whose main draw he got direct entry into after a couple of players withdrew at the last moment, eliminating the need for him to play the qualification round. Talking about the same, he says, "I'm not keeping any specific goals for myself going into the tournament. I'm just going out there for practice and trying my best to improve every day. Once I get a couple of victories in the first couple of rounds and get back my flow, I know I can go out there and crack a few tournaments."
However, his main challenge might come in the second round, where he is likely to run into World No. 3 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, against whom he has a 0-2 head-to-head record. Last year, he had lost in the first round to Chen Long 21-18, 18-21, 19-21 in a closely-fought match at the Indonesia Open.
Currently ranked 29th in the world, Prannoy knows that he's not at his best. "This year hasn't been so good for me so far. I've been struggling with injuries and my form. Things aren't really shaping in the way I wanted them to," he says.
Prannoy suggests that one reason has been the change in training pattern. "We have a new coach (Indonesia's Mulyo Handoyo) now. And while his training style is very good, I don't think I have been able to adjust with it too well. Somehow, my style of play isn't allowing me to adapt to newer ways. When there are 50 different players in one centre, I find it difficult to get the sort of confidence that is required on court. I guess I need more time to figure out why this is happening and try to get individual sessions with the coach to work on it accordingly."
The current men's badminton scene in India has seen a boom, with three players - Ajay Jayaram, K Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth - ranked in the top 15, and a total of six players, including Prannoy himself, in the top 50. However, he feels that the team lacks consistency - the sole factor that can help them improve their rankings further. "This is a very good time for Indian badminton, as a whole. We have been able to produce results, maybe not consistently, but good results nonetheless. I feel that if we consistently can reach the quarterfinals at the Superseries events, I can see at least three players moving to the top 10 in another year's time. We need to work harder for that, it's not easy at all."
Prannoy believes that with the emergence of several young players on the international platform, the future for men's singles looks bright. "It's an exciting phase. We now have players like Harsheel Dani, Lakshya Sen and Aditya Joshi, all being able to play well and improve on the international scene, I feel that the future is secured for men's singles. All we need to do now is to give them the correct amount of exposure and time to adapt to the senior level."
Prannoy started playing badminton early at the age of 10 and found his first inspiration in his father. "My father used to play badminton, which is why I got inclined to play the sport. When the results started showing, I found my calling there." Prannoy also credits his luck for his maiden foray into badminton. "When I started off, I luckily wasn't that prone to injuries. Otherwise, I'm sure I would've dropped out. It was only later that I committed myself to the sport, and thank God I did," he smiles.