Not Olympics yet, aim to finish in top three in world: Prannoy

India’s badminton star HS Prannoy may be leading the race for an Olympic berth but he doesn’t want to think about Paris just yet. In fact, that is his focus at present. Aiming to be among the top three players in the world. Prannoy, who has been the most consistent performer among Indian players in the last 12 months, is currently ranked ninth in the world.

Prannoy won the Malaysia Masters in May while also came close to winning the Australian Open in Sydney last week but had to be content with a runner-up finish. During this, Prannoy told PTI, “I am probably in a good condition right now. I’ve had a good few tournaments after May but I would say I’m never satisfied. I’ve always wanted to go out on the court and win big tournaments, that’s always been my intention.”

He further added, “Over the years I have been able to play in the quarter-finals and semi-finals consistently and now I am trying to go one more round and make it to the finals. And win the tournament. ”The 31-year-old Prannoy, who made two finals, three quarter-finals and one semi-final appearance in the current season, was ranked eighth in the world in 2017. But after that his ranking dropped to 33 in 2021 due to health reasons.

Thiruvananthapuram’s Prannoy returned to the top 10 in December last year and then achieved a career-best seventh ranking in May this year. “It will be a challenge to break into the top five or top three in the world in the coming months. I’ve never been able to do this until now. I think that’s the goal so far. I am not thinking too far ahead, right now I am focusing on the Olympics.

“Now the targets are very small, how can we perform next week or say World Championship or China Open, that is the only target and rest will happen automatically,” Prannoy said. will take part from August 21-27, followed by the China Open Super 1000 (September 5-10) and the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Prannoy, who made it to the quarter-finals in the last two World Championships, doesn’t want to put any pressure on himself this time, especially after playing three tournaments in a row. “I am not thinking about the World Championship right now, I know it is only two weeks away. To be honest, we played three tournaments in a row in Korea, Japan and Australia.

Prannoy, who played a key role in India’s historic victory in the Thomas Cup, reached the pre-quarterfinals in Korea, the quarterfinals in Japan and the final in Australia. Prannoy said, “We have hardly 10 days in view of the World Championship. It is difficult to achieve 100 per cent in such a short time amidst a busy schedule, but yes, I will try to prepare my body for the World Championships. But I am not putting pressure on myself that I should do very well in the World Championships because we have to understand that we have to take care of the body first as we have a long season ahead of us.

The twelve-month Olympic qualification period begins on 1 May 2023. The qualification period will run until 28 April 2024 with players from around the world competing week-by-week. Will challenge for ranking points as the opening qualifiers will be decided on the basis of the Race to Paris ranking list (as on 30 April 2024).

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