BWF World Tour Finals: Pranay will set out to make a mark in the World Tour, taking part for the first time
Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy will look to make a mark against the world’s best in his maiden appearance at the BWF World Tour Finals, starting here on Wednesday. With two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu ruled out due to injury, Prannoy is the only player from India in the season-ending tournament. The tournament has been shifted from Guangzhou in China after the increase in the cases of Kovid-19 infection. Prannoy, who has shown the most consistency among Indian players in the current season, has been clubbed in Group A alongside Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, Kodai Neroka of Japan and Liu Guang Zhu of China.
Third seed Prannoy, who was recently awarded the Arjuna Award, said, “I am looking forward to starting my campaign at the BWF World Tour Finals. I am taking part in the season-end tournament for the first time and hope to do well.” Prannoy is eyeing a semi-final berth but his record against his group opponents is not very good. Against the world number one, he lost five matches and registered just one win. However, Prannoy’s morale will be boosted by the fact that he defeated Axelsen in their last meeting at the Indonesia Masters last year. Prannoy had lost his only match against 21-year-old Neroka of Japan during the Singapore Open in July.
Apart from this, the Indian player also faced defeat during the only match in the French Open against Liu of China. Nominated for the BWF’s Most Improving Player of the Year award, Prannoy, however, is known to perform well in the big tournaments and has been in good form this year. Prannoy played a key role in India’s historic title win at the Thomas Cup and also reached the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 and Malaysia Masters Super 500 events, besides finishing runner-up at the Swiss Open Super 300. Defending champion Axelsen is the strongest player in world No. 12 Prannoy’s group but he cannot afford to be complacent against the other two rivals. Axelsen has won his last 39 matches, setting a world record.
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During this, he won five Super Series titles. In the men’s section, Chou Tien Chen, Jonathan Christie, Anthony Ginting and Loh Kean Yew have been placed in Group B. Sindhu is the only player for India to win the prestigious tournament while Sameer Verma reached the semi-finals in 2018. In women’s singles, defending champion An Si Young, world champion Akane Yamaguchi, Olympic champion Chen Yufei and He Bingzhao are among the favourites. Tai Tzu Ying and Ratchanok Intanon may not have had a great season but both of them are capable of winning titles.
