Badminton News: HS Prannoy says India will take inspiration from their victory in the Thomas Cup final to achieve the same feat in the team event that begins today at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

The 31-year-old played a crucial role in India’s historic Thomas Cup victory last May in Bangkok.

He didn’t stop there and won his first World Tour title at the Malaysia Masters a year later and also stunned defending champion and local favorite Viktor Axelsen in the round of 16, while on his way to win her first medal at the World Championships in Copenhagen last month.

“Being part of a team is always fun because we rarely play together,” HS Prannoy said in an interview with Hindustan Times.

“This team is very similar to the Thomas Cup and I am very excited to see how we perform. The Thomas Cup gave me a lot of confidence. I began to think that if this was possible, then many things were possible.”

“I had some good matches there, important matches which were a test for me mentally and I think I succeeded.

This encourages you to move forward and all the hard work starts to get done.

“I think this week is a big week not only for me but also for badminton in our country,” added Prannoy.

India will face minnows Nepal in the quarter-finals today after securing a bye in the round of 16.

Team India has a chance to go further as it also has fellow Thomas Cup winners World No. 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in doubles, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Lakshya Sen and 2021 World Championships silver medalist K. Srikanth in singles in their ranks.

In the last Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018, India lost 1-3 to Indonesia in the round of 16 and Prannoy scored the only point after defeating Jonatan Christie. India has never won badminton gold at the Asian Games before.

Article Tag: HS Prannoy, India, Asian Games 2023