“I don’t really want to force myself to get over this immediately. Sometimes the sadness or the disappointment is also important,” Prannoy told this writer. “At 19-14, I should have won it. Maybe I will do so at bigger stages, when I won’t make the same mistake again,” he added.
At a career-high ranking of world No. 6, Prannoy can justly think of the bigger stages. He has now beaten everyone on the circuit and is perhaps the only player who has pushed Viktor Axelsen each time he has played him in the last few months. From suffering from the Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and finding it difficult to breathe to making it into the top six of the world badminton, Prannoy is a story of resilience and courage.
A day after Prannoy won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Denmark last week, national chief coach Pullela Gopichand put it in context. “This has to rank as one of the greatest victories of his career. Just think of the context.
Viktor at home in front of buoyant Danish fans. He had lost to Viktor twice in the last two months and the last loss was when he was in a winning position. Such losses scar you mentally. And here he was a game down. To win from there against the best player in the world is something Prannoy should forever be proud of,” Gopi said.
The 31-year-old Keralite, who had played a starring role in India’s historic Thomas Cup victory last year, understands that injuries are part and parcel of a long sporting career.“It has been difficult but that’s where I credit Gopi sir and the team. Gopi sir has always told me that if I want to be a good player and have a long career, I have to keep it in mind that I will lose 2-3 years because of injury. That’s par for the course. The important thing is I have been able to come back from it all and do something tangible. Victories like these give you the confidence to keep going and that’s something I will bank on going forward,” he had said after the Thomas Cup win.“I have had self-doubt in the past. I used to ask myself if I could make a comeback from injury and play in the top bracket again. When you know you have the ability and yet you can’t get to the top because physically you have issues, which aren’t really in your control, the situation is somewhat helpless. To overcome it and win the battle mentally was perhaps the most important challenge.”
He has. And how. Just before leaving for Denmark, he had said, “The body isn’t fully recovered for the World Championships. I will be at 60-70 percent. I am aware that it is not the best scenario, but I will try to manage the situation. I will not put any pressure on myself because there are 20 tournaments to be played in the year and there will be occasions like this.”
It seemed more than the World Championships, it was the Asian Games that Prannoy was eyeing. “I think there is enough time before the Asian Games for me to be fully ready and get the training time I need.
We almost have the entire Thomas Cup team so we will do our best to win a medal and thereafter each one of us will gun for an individual medal and give our very best.”
But then this is a Prannoy who is finally past the GERD issue and is mentally strong enough to overcome any kind of physical adversity. In his case, the mental triumphs the physical. With Guru Gopi by his side, and the team of trainers and physios working on him, Prannoy seems to be making up for the lost time. For himself and India.
Suffice to say that if his body holds up, Prannoy is as good as anyone on the circuit at the moment. “If things go well with his fitness, he can surely have a crack at an Olympic medal,” Gopichand sounded confident.
That’s the big picture. It is not about the lost years anymore. Rather, it is about the fight. The effort and the struggle. If the process is right, which in this case is, there is nothing that can stop Prannoy in the future.
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