Bangkok: Indian shuttler HS Prannoy pulled off a historic win in the decider match to take the Indian badminton team to finals of the Thomas Uber Cup 2022 despite getting injured during the match. Prannoy said that the mentality of not giving up gave him ultimate confidence to go for the win against Denmark.
Despite suffering the injury after slipping on the front court while going for a return, Prannoy continued after taking a medical timeout to upset world number 13 Rasmus Gemke 13-21 21-9 21-12 to secure India’s historic win.
“Mentally, there were a lot of things going on in my head. After the slip, it was hurting more than usual and I was not able to lunge properly and I was thinking what to do,” Prannoy said after the tie.
“In my mind, it was always coming that I should not give up, just try and see how it goes. Was praying that the pain doesn’t get aggravated and it started to reduce towards the second game and by the third, I was feeling much better.”
“The tactics which we used in the second and third game was very crucial. The strategy was to keep the pressure on and I knew if I come into the second half with a good lead, there is a big chance to get the game. And I just told myself to push these 11 points possible and the strategy worked,” he said.
The Indians had never gone past the Thomas Cup semifinals after 1979, but on Friday they showed tremendous fighting spirit to outwit the 2016 champions.
Prannoy said going into the court after the medical timeout, his plan was to keep up the pressure on his Danish opponent and it worked to his favour.
Inputs from PTI
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