Top-10, not Rio, on HS Prannoy’s mind

H.S. Prannoy has sent strong signals of his form ahead of the India Open Super Series badminton tournament with the Swiss Open title win in Basel on Sunday. Prannoy, who had been inconsistent following a toe injury last summer, said the title had helped him regain confidence ahead of some major tournaments.

“After the All England first round loss, I was frustrated and really wanted to do well. And this tournament has been a big confidence booster for me, considering I have beaten some top players,” Prannoy told this paper from Basel on Monday.

Prannoy recorded a straight-game victory over 19th ranked Marc Zwiebler of Germany in the Swiss Open final for his second GP Gold title after the triumph at the Indonesia Masters in September 2014. En route to the finals, he overcame higher ranked Briton Rajiv Ouseph. But Prannoy insists that the pre-quarter-finals win over Thai player Tanongsak Saensombo-onsuk gave him the winning rhythm in the tournament.

“The final wasn’t that easy as the scoreline read. There were a lot of long rallies and it was tough to sustain the level. But I think I was patient enough.

“Last year was tough for me as I was bed-ridden was almost six months due to injury. Though I registered some big wins, including a first round win over Lin Dan in the French Open, I could not maintain momentum,” said the 23-year-old, who is looking to be more consistent this season, riding on which he “aims to reach the top-10 of world rankings”.

“Besides consistency, I need to improve my pace to reach there,” he added.

Asked if he was aspiring to make the Olympics squad this time, the 27th ranked Prannoy laughed off saying, “it will be very tough, and I am not thinking about it right now. There are many players like Srikanth (10th), Kashyap (17th), Jayaram (20th) ahead of me.”