India shuttler H.S. Prannoy battled through pain in his ribcage and a shoulder injury to stun Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie in the opening round of the Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament here on Wednesday.
Prannoy showed great resilience and didn’t let the physical discomfort disturb his focus, outwitting the world No. 7 Christie 18-21, 21-16, 23-21 in a thrilling contest.
The 28-year-old had spent two weeks stressing over his physical and mental health after contracting Covid-19 last November. He could resume training only in the second week of December but had to go through the ordeal of a false Covid positive result ahead of the Thailand Open last week.
“I haven’t practised the last few days and my rib was hurting. Probably there’s a muscle inflammation because I was coughing a lot when I had Covid,” said Prannoy, who will next take on Malaysia’s Daren Liew. “Today I just wanted to stay in there as there were no expectations.”
Prannoy and Sameer Verma will carry India’s charge in men’s singles after the withdrawal of compatriots B Sai Praneeth and Kidambi Srikanth. While Praneeth tested positive, roommate Srikanth was forced to withdraw as per Badminton World Federation protocols.
Among other Indians in the fray, the men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila beat New Zealand’s Oliver Leydon-Davis and Abhinav Manota 23-21, 21-17. However, the women’s doubles pair of N. Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 11-21, 19-21 to German duo of Linda Efler and Isabel Herttrich.
