HS Prannoy was looking to extend his fine run of 2023 this year. Last season turned out to be the finest in a long career as the Kerala shuttler won bronze medals in both the World Championships as well as the Asian Games. He also reached multiple finals on the BWF World Tour, winning the Malaysia Masters and reaching a career-high world No.6.

But 2024 has turned out to an exact opposite for Prannoy, who turns 32 in two weeks. A win-loss record of 10-14, eight early round exits out of 10 individual tournaments with not a single final to boast of.

Now undergoing a month-long training in Hyderabad, Prannoy, who will be debuting at the Olympics later this month, said that men’s singles will be a totally open draw in Paris.

“The last one year in men’s singles has shown anybody can go and win an Olympic gold. It is such an interesting, open and exciting event where anybody in the world can come and spring a surprise,” Prannoy said from Hyderabad.

He was referring to the open field men’s singles has witnessed in the past one year. The dominance of reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen has diminished with the Dane winning only one title this year compared to seven in 2023. Five different players have won Super 500 or higher-rated tournaments this year that wasn’t the case the last two seasons.

“You have to be very cautious and can’t take any match for granted. Even players who get quotas at Olympics are good players. Kevin Cordon from Guatemala proved it last time when he finished fourth in Tokyo, showing the depth in men’s singles. On their day, anybody can beat the top names,” he added.

But while others have excelled, Prannoy’s performances have gone down this year, the reason being a health issue he was dealing with. The 31-year-old suffered from constant nausea for the last four months, which related to a malfunctioning muscle lining the oesophagus, causing food consumed to move up and eventually vomit. The condition is similar to acid reflux Prannoy had suffered from in 2018-19 before finally figuring out the solution. The issues also saw him lose five kilograms and had a psychological impact.

“It is tough when there is an issue which is troubling you physically during tournaments. It affects you mentally as well. You tend to go into a shell thinking why it is happening, especially when doctors are not able to find out the reason at first,” said Prannoy.

“You are not in a state of mind to enjoy the game, always trying to figure out what is happening to you from a physical perspective. That’s what happened in the first four months of the year and it took some while to come out of it.”

Doctors have since identified the issue and Prannoy has been under medication since. He is also using recovery enablers such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy and red light therapy to get better before hitting the courts at Paris.

While red light therapy is similar to sauna, in hyperbaric oxygen therapy one enters a chamber with excess oxygen, which is useful for active recovery after a match or practice.

Knowing that the first half of the year hasn’t exactly gone according to his liking, Prannoy wants to make amends now, starting with his maiden attempt at the Olympics.

“Performance-wise I didn’t hit a lot of targets, couldn’t play consistent badminton but there were a lot of reasons behind it. It made it tough to come back to the circuit and play with confidence,” said the world No.13.

“I feel good. It is a great responsibility (playing in the Olympics). The important thing is to put your head down and work for the next few days. It is an opportunity which God has given, to go out there and perform at the highest stage.”

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