It is two hours past midnight in India. However, badminton enthusiasts in the country are still glued to their screens.
Miles away in Paris, HS Prannoy is doing what he does the best. The veteran shuttler is pushing his limits against Denmark’s world No 2 Anders Antonsen at the 2025 BWF World Championships.
When Prannoy surrendered the first game 8-21, the writing seemed to be on the wall. Only that it wasn’t. At least not so easily.
Prannoy summoned his inner fighter and battled on. It wasn’t something the world was unaware of.
The Danish shuttlers, especially, have been at the receiving end of Prannoy’s wrath over the past few years.
His 2023 World C’ships bronze came after a win against Viktor Axelsen. Prannoy had also pushed India into the 2022 Thomas Cup Final with a decisive win against Rasmus Gemke in the third singles match of the semi-final tie against Denmark. In both these matches, he fought back from a game down.
Midway into the second game against Antonsen, Prannoy turned his antics on. Those trademark cross-court smashes suddenly had more spice in them. The shuttles landed exactly where he wanted him to.
HK Vittinghaus, the Danish shuttler turned coach, very well knew what was coming. The pressure got to Antonsen on court as well – he moved far too early for a service return. The chair umpire called a fault. Antonsen wasn’t happy.
But it helped Prannoy eke out a 19-17 lead. The Indian hung on to win it 21-17 – ending the game with four-points-in a row – to force a decider.
Prannoy carried the momentum forward to open up a 4-1 lead in the decider. Antonsen, one of the favourites to win the title in Paris, wasn’t to surrender. The second seed fought back to lead 5-4.
The cat and mouse chase was on. Neither Prannoy nor Antonsen, willing to concede an inch.
Eventually, Prannoy eked out a slender 11-10 lead before the final change of sides.
Though he wasn’t outplaying his opponent entirely, Prannoy pulled Antonsen into fast, flat exchanges late in the decider. And with his smashes flowing like water, the idea to use them to surprise the Dane and kill the rallies seemed to be paying rich dividends.
It was after one such rally, where Prannoy first dribbled at the net and then landed a down-the-line winner that he earned two match points at 20-18.
With the match nearly in the bag, Prannoy faltered. He first landed the shuttle long after a tiring rally, before his smash went wide as Antonsen equalised 20-20.
Prannoy would go on to win one more point in the match, but Antonsen – the tournament favourite – had just enough in his tank to stave off the scare.
For the final point, Antonsen pushed Prannoy to the defensive. The Indian did so for his life, but this time it was his opponent’s turn to smash the bones out of the shuttlecock.
Prannoy, the giant slayer, fell just short of yet another Prannoy-eqsue win.
“I think I played a few bad shots towards the end,” said Prannoy after the match.
“I should have kept a bit more energy and tried to be on the attacking side [for the final few points],” he added.
This battle might not be remembered in the long run but at 33, Prannoy once again displayed why he isn’t the one to be written off.
Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag advance
Before the Prannoy madness in Paris, India’s PV Sindhu and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round of 2025 BWF World Championships.
While Sindhu beat Malaysia’s Karupathevan Letshanaa 21-19, 21-15 in 43 minutes, Rankireddy-Shetty took down Chinese Taipei’s Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po Han 22-20, 21-13 to start their campaign after a first round bye.
Elsewhere, the mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also started their campaign on a winning note, beating Ireland’s Joshua Magee and Moya Ryan 21-11, 21-16 in the second round.
