New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Navigating a far more uncertain phase in their careers, every win now carries immense value for Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy.
On Wednesday, the two senior most Indian shuttlers registered morale boosting victories at the India Open Super 750 event, results that carried significance beyond the immediate scoreline.
Srikanth and Prannoy were once central to many of India’s biggest moments in men’s badminton, including the historic 2022 Thomas Cup triumph. Today, for players who once commanded automatic entries and seeded positions, simply competing regularly at the sport’s highest rung has become a battle.
“It was a tough game. Two points here or there would have made a big difference,” said Srikanth, a former world No. 1 and 2021 World Championships silver medallist, after surviving a tense 15-21 21-6 21-19 contest against fellow Indian Tharun Mannepalli.
Trailing 17-19 in the decider, Srikanth steadied himself to close out the match, a composure he admitted had not always been present in recent seasons.
The 32-year-old from Guntur was candid about his uneven start.
“Halfway through the first set, I was thinking why I’m not playing the way I want to. I couldn’t really start the way I wanted, but I’m happy I could come back,” said Srikanth, who reached finals of Malaysia Masters and Syed Modi International in 2025.
Beyond the immediate result, Srikanth was frank about the structural difficulty facing players who slip outside the world’s top 32. With the BWF calendar now dominated by high prize money Super 750 and Super 1000 events, access has tightened.
“Once you are out of the top 32, it becomes very tough to get back. Last year I couldn’t really get entries into the 750 tournaments. To start this year with one is a positive step,” said the current world No. 34.
For Prannoy, the struggle has been more about mental fatigue. The 2023 World Championships bronze medallist, who battled illness and injuries last season, admitted the previous year took a heavy toll on him.
“Last season was a little tiring mentally because I had a lot of matches where I was there but couldn’t convert. I think one was World Championship and a couple of other matches also in the start of the year,” said the 33-year-old.
“It really gets you to a place where you start to think if you are good enough to win these kind of matches. Towards the end of the year I was not at all in a good space where there was lot of negative thoughts coming in and probably the love to grind was missing.” World No. 38 Prannoy was not a certainty for the India Open, receiving a last minute entry, which he converted into a confidence boosting 22-20 21-18 win over last year’s runner-up Lee Cheuk Yiu.
“I felt the pressures, the first 11 points was a little bit up and down. The conditions are very tricky out there. It is not easy all of a sudden to just go out there and time the shuttles. It is just important to enjoy those kind of situations also at times,” he said.
“It was very important to win first game because somebody like him just gains confidence and you can see he is somebody who is very moody, just randomly comes in and beats a lot of players out there.
“I had to just keep it there and don’t give him extra motivation to kind of play and just take it whatever he is giving and just go home.” Prannoy credited national coach Pullela Gopichand, who was courtside during the match.
“He always says to stay long in the game. There are a lot of instances where I have asked should I just wrap it up but the important message from him is always to stay long because he always believes that things might be a little topsy-turvy at times in your career but it is important to stay there because good things happen only when you are staying there,” he said.
For Srikanth, motivation now lies ahead. With the World Championships set to be staged at home later this year, the prospect of competing in front of Indian fans has become the driving force.
“I’m just happy, I’m enjoying my badminton, being back on court, playing these higher level tournaments, I just want to continue as long as I can,” he said.
“The last big tournament that I played at home was Thomas Cup, probably 10-12 years back or something. So just very happy to be playing, if I get the opportunity to play World Championships at home again.” PTI ATK APS APS
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