GOLD WRAPPED IN BRONZE

Rohit Mahajan in Hangzhou

It’s been pain and pain and pain… and Prannoy fought, fought, fought,” says Pullela Gopichand. “I’m still emotional about it,” adds India’s chief badminton coach. He says he’s stirred by the pain India’s top badminton player, HS Prannoy, has had to endure in his pursuit of glory.

Prannoy, 31, has a painful life — but success is so sweet, he wouldn’t swap pain and success with all the silk in Shanghai.

After winning his quarterfinal match against Lee Zii Jia yesterday, Prannoy had said he had played at “80 per cent” of his peak level; today, in the semifinals against home favourite Li Shi Feng, the ache in his lower back was worse — he was playing at his “50%”.

This, surely, meant that he was a beaten man even before he took the court in front a partisan crowd that egged on their man, the current world No. 1, non-stop for all 51 minutes the match lasted.

For a man playing at his 50%, world No. 7 Prannoy didn’t begin badly at all — his crosscourt drops, dipping close to the net short of Feng’s backhand, won him points right from the start; he was finding his range with his forehand smashes, too, and stretching forward well to retrieve and execute drop shots. But he was playing conservatively due to the pain — the explosive game he’s known for was not in evidence.

Feng, who had lost all three times the two clashed in the past, was clinging to Prannoy, a point or two in the deficit. The crowd, sensing their man needed to catch up, roused him with cries of ‘Li Shi Feng, chai-you!’ — ‘Li Shi Feng, come on!’.

Around the halfway mark in the first game, leading 13-11, something snapped in Prannoy, and his game became frayed. Just what happened? It was frustration, he later explained — frustration at his own inability to execute his plans. The frustration cost him dear. “It was entirely on the strategic side of my game,” Prannoy said. “I wanted to execute something but was not able to, over a couple of points. This upset me, and I let go two-three points from my hand.”

This proved decisive because there was no way Prannoy, playing conservatively and at his ‘50%’, was going to come back from 14-17 down — especially against the world’s No. 1 player. He made errors — hitting wide and long, and into the net, and short, allowing Feng some easy smashes. Feng won eight of the last 11 points and took the game 21-16. The second game was more lopsided than the end of the first; from 4-4, Feng took 10 of the next 12 points, and seven of the final nine, winning the game 21-16 21-9.

Last Sunday, Prannoy had missed the men’s team final against China due to the injury, but he’d had this trouble before the Asian Games began. “I’ve not trained in the last 10 days, to make sure that I could play at all,” said Prannoy, winner of a bronze at the World Championships in August. “That was the only intention out there, to think that the only energy which we could put was to take it day by day, with the medical team taking a call to see how strongly I could play…”

“This match should be seen from the perspective that he had this injury in training just before coming (for Asian Games),” said Gopichand. “It’s creditable that he has fought back.”

“No shame in the way he lost because Feng played fantastic. This bronze, to me, is worth its weight in gold and must be celebrated,” Gopichand said.

Satwik-Chirag one win away from history

Star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty dished out a badminton masterclass to storm into the final and inch closer to India’s first-ever gold at the Asian Games today. The world No. 3 pair, part of the silver-medal winning men’s team last week, produced a sensational show to outclass Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-17 21-12 in 46 minutes. They became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to be assured of a silver at the Games.

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INDIANS IN ACTION

Archery

Compound: Women’s bronze medal match: Aditi Swami 6:10am; Women’s gold medal match: Jyothi Surekha Vennam 6:30am; Men’s gold medal match: Abhishek Verma vs Ojas Deotale 7:10am

Badminton

Men’s doubles final: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty 11:30am

Chess

(12:30pm onwards)

Round 9 of team events

Cricket

Men’s final: India vs Afghanistan 11:30am

Hockey

Women’s bronze medal match:

India vs Japan 1:30pm

Kabaddi

Women’s final: India vs Chinese Taipei 7am; Men’s final: India vs Iran 12:30pm

Wrestling

(7:30am onwards)

Men’s freestyle: Yash (74kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Vicky (97kg), Sumit (125kg)

#HS Prannoy