Badminton World Championships: HS Prannoy victor against Axelsen

Copehangen, August 25

HS Prannoy extracted the last ounce of energy from his reservoir to stun defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in a thrilling 68-minute quarterfinal to ensure a medal for India in the World Championships here today.

I just zoned out, the only thing under my control is me. I was actually not thinking about anything else today. HS Prannoy

In a nail-biter, Prannoy once again showed his big-match temperament as he fought back from a game down to outwit the reigning Olympics champion Axelsen 13-21 21-15 21-16. Prannoy will face Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semifinals tomorrow. “I finally have a Worlds medal,” said Prannoy.

Prannoy played under immense pressure with the home crowd rooting for the world No. 1 Axelsen. “I just zoned out, the only thing under my control is me. I was actually not thinking about anything else today, just thinking about what to do to take the next five points,” the world No. 9 said.

Prannoy came into the match with a 2-7 head-to-head record but he had troubled the Dane in their last meeting at Japan Open. Talking about his new shots, Prannoy said: “Before coming for Worlds, we had a week’s time, and we practised new shots. We are trying to find new shots because we are playing against top-10, top-20 players every week. I might come out with a new shot next week.”

The 31-year-old from Kerala thus continued India’s dream run at the World Championships as the victory sealed the country’s 14th medal in the event.

Two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu won five of them, including a gold in 2019, and Saina Nehwal (silver and bronze) claimed two. Kidambi Srikanth (silver), Lakshya Sen (bronze), B Sai Praneeth (bronze) and Prakash Padukone (bronze) are the other medallists in singles.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had won a bronze in the last edition, while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claimed a bronze back in 2011 in the women’s doubles.

Earlier, Satwiksairaj and Shetty missed out on a second medal after suffering a 18-12 19-21 loss to Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the men’s doubles quarters.