Australian Open 2023: World No.9 HS Prannoy is having a terrific season in 2023. The 31-year old reached the final at the Australian Open 2023 on Saturday, 5th August. This is his second final of the BWF Tour this year, following his Malaysian Open victory in May.
Also Read: Australian Open Highlights: HS Prannoy defeats Priyanshu Rajawat, enters final
Prannoy, who is India’s No.1 ranked Men’s singles player credited continuous experiments for a ‘special’ season on the tour. “A lot of credit goes to myself (laughs) because I was ready to accept change, try new things,” he said.
“The team which has been working with me has been really great. They have been able to give me inputs, help me each day in training,” he further added.
“The coaches Gopi sir, Guru, physios, trainers, everybody has equally worked hard from the background, so it is a team effort that is happening and I hope we can find solutions for each tournament and keep going,” he said.
Prannoy’s experiments
Prannoy turned around his career at the back end of 2021. However before that he battled a serious of health issues. During the 2018 World Championships, he was diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (stomach contents leak backward into food pipe). In November 2020, he was also infected with Covid-19.
While the health issues had a huge impact on his performance, Prannoy started trying out different methods to improve his physical well being. He started attending sessions in psychology and breathing techniques.
Prannoy also used a metabolic health tracker to monitor the’ glucose level in his body. Following the retirement of Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt, he started training with him.
All these small efforts that Prannoy took over the years seemed to have come together as he fashioned India’s epic Thomas Cup win in 2022, won his first title in six years in Malaysia Masters in May and now is one step away from his second title.
Prannoy will next face China’s Weng Hong Yang in the Australian Open final on Sunday. It will be a repeat of Malaysia Masters final in which Prannoy defeated the Chinese 21-19, 13-21. He defeated his younger compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat in straight games to seal spot in the final.
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