All posts tagged: Prannoy

HS Prannoy, Devika Sihag exit in opening round

HS Prannoy, Devika Sihag exit in opening round

Published by Webster

India had a disappointing start to their campaign at the 2026 China Open Super 1000 as HS Prannoy and Devika Sihag lost their respective first round matches on Tuesday. Prannoy, who was up against Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia, failed to put up any sort of fight against the world No 27. The Indian surrendered 10-21, 14-21 meekly in just 32 minutes to crash out of the competition in the opening round. On contrary, Sihag pushed world No 20 Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand out of her comfort zone in a match which lasted 61 minutes. 🚨#news l 🇮🇳 HS Prannoy and Devika both fall in the first round of the China Open 🏆 Prannoy lost 10-21, 14-21 against Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao 🇲🇾 While Devika Sihag fell to Busanan Ongbamrunphan 🇹🇭 in three games 19-21, 21-19, 13-21.#badminton #BWF pic.twitter.com/ZgEVM84tC4 — The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) July 21, 2026 Sihag started off well and gave a good account of herself in the opening game, staying within a touching distance of her opponent before the Thai shuttler upped the …

Why HS Prannoy looked at the roof during his loss to Loh Kean Yew

Why HS Prannoy looked at the roof during his loss to Loh Kean Yew

Published by Webster

4 min readMay 28, 2026 07:05 PM IST When two smashes inexplicably went into the net as HS Prannoy led 14-11 in the decider against Loh Kean Yew, the Indian who had been playing very steady, looked up quizically. Not heavenwards asking for divine intervention, more like there was an invisible A/C vent above the net blasting the shuttle down. He went on to lose the match to the local Singaporean who was imploding right until that point with his errors, 18-21, 21-16, 21-15. Cruising as he was, Prannoy couldn’t have explained going from 14-11 to 15-21, with 7 of those 10 points lost, dumped into the net, dipping down right before crossing the meshing, as he lost Round 2 of the Super 750, while looking very controlled till that juncture. Prannoy tried everything as soon as those two smashes plunged into the net. He attempted a couple of high parallels, which also ended up in the net. He even cut the distance and played from closer to the net. But try as he might, …

Prannoy turns table on World No 5 Jonatan Christie for first win over him since 2021

Prannoy turns table on World No 5 Jonatan Christie for first win over him since 2021

Published by Webster

5 min readMay 27, 2026 04:35 PM IST HS Prannoy hadn’t defeated Top 5 regular, Indonesian Jonatan Christie since January of 2021. In fact he had only one win to show from his last 8 matches against the consistent Jojo since 2018. But top players – Jojo is World No 5 currently – have always known how dangerous the 33-year-old Indian can be. On Wednesday he defeated the Indonesian 10-21, 21-12, 21-18 with a typical Prannoying-playbook at the Super 750 Singapore Open. In the Singapore Indoor Stadium which commentators call the ‘Hairdryer arena’ because of its bellicose drift, that maddens the shuttle flight, Prannoy showed what complete, cerebral badminton can be. His ranking hovers close to his age these days, it’s No 35 this week. But the double-medallist from Thomas Cups, who has medals at World Championships, Asian Games, Asian Championships and the Malaysia Masters, took out Christie with a mix of psychological pressure and supreme racquet skills. It tends to get overlooked because Kidambi Srikanth’s game was so elegant and Lakshya Sen’s style is …

HS Prannoy stuns world no.5 Jonatan Christie

HS Prannoy stuns world no.5 Jonatan Christie

Published by Webster

Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy registered a massive win in the opening round of the 2026 Singapore Open Super750 Tournament on Wednesday. He came from behind to stun the world No. 5 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in three games, 10-21, 21-12, 21-18, to reach the round of 16. After a disappointing first game, the 33-year-old made a good comeback in the second game, showcasing his power game to dominate the rallies and push a decider. In the third game, both players had a steady start, keeping each other within reach and in the end, Prannoy won the final three points and won the match. This was the 10th meeting between the two players, with Christie leading their head-to-head 7-2, but Prannoy finally got the better of him after five years. On the other hand, the Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also moved to the second round with a three-game win. They defeated the Malaysian pair of Wong Tien Ci and Sien Lim Chiew, 21-14, 20-22, 21-13, to set up a …

Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy exit in first round

Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy exit in first round

Published by Webster

Top Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen faced an early exit at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 Tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. The All England finalist Lakshya bowed down in a straight-game 17-21, 11-21 affair to the 18-year-old rising star Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia. The two-time junior world medalist Zaki outclassed his much higher-ranked opponent in a comfortable first-round matchup in 43 minutes. Meanwhile, Prannoy showed a good fight against World No. 9 Kodai Naraoka of Japan, but a lack of composure in the dying moments cost him the match. The 33-year-old had five match points in the decider, leading 20-16, but he could not close it out and lost in three games, 17-21, 22-20, 22-24. 🏸Bad day at the office for Indian shuttlers at #MalaysiaMasters2026 — – Lakshya Sen loses against 18-year-old Zaki Ubaidullah in the opening round.Score: 17-21, 11-21 – HS Prannoy loses to world no.9 Kodai Naraoka despite having five match points in the deciding game. Score:… pic.twitter.com/gobFrigbpy — The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) May 20, 2026 On the other hand, Malvika …

Why HS Prannoy thinks India’s Thomas Cup bronze deserves applause, not silence

Why HS Prannoy thinks India’s Thomas Cup bronze deserves applause, not silence

Published by Webster

Cold, cussed, unemotional math data says if India’s Thomas Cup team seeding was 8th, then a semifinal (last 4) finish was them punching above their weight in badminton’s team World Cup. Thailand (with World No 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn), Indonesia (with World No 5 Jonatan Christie), and Japan (with World No 9 Kodai Naraoka) – considered well-rounded powerhouses of international badminton- did not reach the 2026 Thomas Cup semifinals. Chinese Taipei, with two Taiwanese in the Top 10 – Chou Tien Chen at No 6, and Lin Chun-Yi at No 8, did not make the last 4 either – incidentally defeated by India, whose two singles players getting them the win, were ranked No 11 and a fresh entrant to the Top 20 – Ayush Shetty, at No 18. The devil is on social media, the details are on the ranking charts, and the drop-down recent results. “The bronze was not easy to win,” a calm HS Prannoy told a SAI-facilitated interaction, on his return two days ago. “India was seeded 8th, and we were never …

Chirag Shetty, HS Prannoy rue lack of recognition, support for Thomas Cup team

Chirag Shetty, HS Prannoy rue lack of recognition, support for Thomas Cup team

Published by Webster

As the Indian men’s badminton team landed in the country with a bronze medal from the 2026 Thomas Cup on Tuesday, doubles star Chirag Shetty posted an Instagram story. “Back home now. As usual, no one knows what happened over the past two weeks, and it seems like no one cares,” the story read. Shetty, who has been the most vocal of shuttlers over the last four years about the lack of recognition he and his counterparts received for the 2022 Thomas Cup win, was ruing the same lack of support from his countrymen. The story was also reshared by his doubles partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy as the duo expressed their disappointment. “I never expected anyone to come to the airport and receive us,” said Shetty in a media interaction felicitated by Sports Authority of India (SAI). “The last time when we when Thomas Cup we were felicitated by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Prime Minister, but I feel it didn’t get celebrated as much as it should be by the fans. “The people …

Lakshya vs Li Shifeng; Ayush vs Hong Yang & Prannoy vs Lu Guang Zu for China tie after Shi Yuqi still recovering at Thomas Cup | Badminton News

Lakshya vs Li Shifeng; Ayush vs Hong Yang & Prannoy vs Lu Guang Zu for China tie after Shi Yuqi still recovering at Thomas Cup | Badminton News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 29, 2026 11:14 AM IST With Shi Yuqi not having recovered from his acute gastroenteritis, Li Shifeng steps in his place as first singles against Lakshya Sen for the key Thomas Cup group tie to decide who finishes first or second. The tie starts 1.30 pm IST. It’s an interesting point in time for Li Shifeng. Not in the best of forms, he does have scores to settle against Sen, leading 8-7 in head to head overall, but having lost to the Indian at All England in 2026. Shifeng won all their faceoffs in 2025, but hasn’t been in best form this season. Stepping up to MS1 first singles, is a challenge, but Shifeng has always been a big occasion player. Sen lost to Victor Lai, but he is known to reserve his best for the big matches too. In 2023, he defeated Shi Yuqi in Asian Games Teams. It puts Ayush Shetty in unchartered territory, against China’s foxiest Weng Hong Yang, always a tricky customer in second singles. Their rankings are …

Why HS Prannoy & Kidambi Srikanth are ideal role models for the likes of Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma | Badminton News

Why HS Prannoy & Kidambi Srikanth are ideal role models for the likes of Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma | Badminton News

Published by Webster

HS Prannoy was one of India’s earliest men’s medallists at the World Junior Championships, winning bronze alongside B Sai Praneeth. They won it in 2010, the year Viktor Axelsen became champion. Both went on to win Senior World Championship bronze medals – Sai in 2019, and Prannoy later in 2023. Prannoy’s biggest Tour title at Malaysia too came in 2022, a dozen years after he was dubbed a prodigy. Sometimes, success takes time. Even the greatest Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei won only bronze at the World Juniors, incidentally in the same edition in 2000. For both Prannoy (an identified prodigy who won it all in juniors) and Srikanth (a reluctant genius who won nothing in juniors and suddenly started winning in singles after being dragged out of doubles), resilience has been a large part of their career journeys. Indian women’s singles has two success stories of women who started winning early at 17-18. But the likes of Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma, Devika Sihag and Rakshitha Ramraj, Anmol Kharb and Isharani Baruah — …

PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy advance at Asian Championships; Lakshya Sen exits | Badminton News

PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy advance at Asian Championships; Lakshya Sen exits | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Lakshya Sen faced an early exit at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo on Wednesday, crashing out to a 21-12, 21-19 defeat. Sen briefly resisted from 8-14 down to 16-16 in the second set, but was largely lackluster. Sen, the All England finalist, had been keen to do well at the Asians, but he looked rusty and error-prone, not finding his length whatsoever. PV Sindhu, back on the court after missing the All England, showed the fight that keeps her in contention at the top level. Besides Satwik-Chirag who actually won the title in 2023, Sindhu came closest to making the Asian final, but had lost to Akane Yamaguchi at the penultimate step. On Wednesday, she played the Malaysian Wong Ling Ching, ranked 38, and lost the first set 15-21. The comeback needed the Indian to perceptibly raise her foot speed and hitting pace to down a pugnacious opponent. The second set achieved parity fast enough, but in the decider, Wong simply hurried the rallies herself drawing out frustrated smash errors from Sindhu. The Indian …