BWF Thomas Cup provided a host of learning opportunities to HS Prannoy

One of the Indian badminton team’s mainstays, HS Prannoy, said the BWF Thomas Cup campaign gave him a lot of opportunities to learn and get better at his game. With the Paris 2024 Olympics just a couple of months away, Prannoy said playing in the BWF Thomas Cup also gave him an understanding of the level at which the top players in the world are performing.

India won their maiden title at the BWF Thomas Cup two years ago and on Thursday, Indian shuttlers lost their defending champions tag as World No. 9 HS Prannoy, World No. 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, Dhruv Kapila and Sai Pratheek faltered in their respective matches in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Prannoy, who was the unsung hero when India won the BWF Thomas Cup last time, had mixed results in this year’s edition. The 31-year-old beat England’s Harry Huang and got the better of Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting but went down to World No. 2 Shi Yu Qi of China in the quarterfinals.

Prannoy said what matters to him is the fighting spirit he and his team endured during the course of the tournament. “I fought hard, and I think that’s what matters, and for me, that’s what mattered straight from the first day. The idea was to not let things go easily and to fight until the last point,” he said.

Prannoy lost 21-15, 11-21, 14-21 to Qi as India went down 1-3 to China to end its campaign at the quarterfinal stage. The Indian shuttler, who was under the weather with a stomach infection over the last few months, said it was good to play some tough matches at this stage, especially with the Olympics looming. “I would say a lot of learning (came) from this match as well to know where the top players are playing and what are the areas they’re good at. Probably, I was not able to play these kinds of matches the last four months. So, to get this is a bonus right now and to kind of know what to focus on in training,” the Kerala-born shuttler explained.