'I feel I can beat Momota', says HS Prannoy

How do you sum up the year until losing to Kento Momota in pre-quarterfinals at the Worlds last week?

Things have not been that great. At the start of the year, I thought I would not be playing for three-four months. From there, the performances were not so great in the last 3-4 months. In tournaments, I thought I played pretty well but could not go past a couple of big names. The draws were pretty tough. As a whole, it has been a tough year. I did have injuries, there were a couple of health issues too. It took a while for me, and to come back play at that level was not easy.

Having played at that level, to come back from injuries, is it more mental or is it having to come up the rankings and to play consistently?

It is a mix of all of those things. It is not just the physical thing. The mental thing also works. All these things get easier when you are playing at your best. When you have had a break and come back, if you don't win a couple of close games in the initial period, that's when things get tough and you start losing. I needed to find the right mix of how to play, know exactly what I needed to do to score points. In World Championships, I was looking really good after so much time away from playing. From the start of the year, this was the tournament I played really well in so many aspects.

Would you say you found the right mix at the Worlds?

Yes, I felt so. It is a mix of so many things. Sometimes, the training doesn't suit you. Sometimes, the physical injuries might not suit you. I just felt that training was not really helping me as such until I went to the Worlds. Before the Worlds, I told my coaches I needed a slight change in training. I felt there were things that I had to do in training to be more confident in matches. In the tournaments I played in June-July, I felt lack of confidence in shot making, in playing rallies. I thought probably the training should change. Before Worlds, with 7-8 days of training, I felt better. I was much more confident in my shot making and was moving really fast.

What was it about training that was bothering you?

The coaches, obviously, want us to play well and have a schedule that makes you train harder. For individuals, you need to focus on certain things. As a group, there are chances that you miss a certain aspect of training. For someone like me, it is important that I am confident on my skills. I am not worried about fitness. Someone like Sai (Praneeth), who is technically very sound, doesn't need much of training for skills. He doesn't need to do what I need to do. He needed to focus on fitness. Individually, there are certain things that (Kidambi) Srikanth needs to do, Sameer (Verma) needs to do, Sai needs to do and I need to do. You tend to miss those when you are in a group and you cannot complain about them. You cannot have a separate schedule for each and every individual. In a group schedule, there are things that we might miss. You only have to find time and do certain things alone. I felt in the last three-four months, the schedule was really tough. I could not find time for myself. It had an effect in my game that I had to rectify. Some slight change in training before the Worlds had a big impact in my game.

Could the World Championships have gone better for you?

I felt if I could have got the shot in the first game at 19-19, I would have won the big point. I got the knack of playing against Momota. I always had doubts on how to play him. Most of the players still have doubts how to score points against him. It is really tough to play him. It might be easy seeing on TV. He moves around the court really smooth and you don't see that he struggles much on court as he is very fast with his movements. But, I just felt that when I was playing that day (pre-quarters), I got him in places where I was scoring points. I worked for those 19 points. My strategy was to push 100 per cent in the first game and see how it went. When I lost the first game, mentally I was down. Physically I was drained. To play again like this in the third game was tough. I was not there mentally. If I won the first game, he would have been in pressure. I thought I had a really good chance. I feel I can beat Momota if I am really fit. If I am confident like how I played last week, I can beat Momota in the next one year. I know certain things that Momota doesn't like to play. People may not notice as such. I feel I am able to do that. That's why I have good record against big players.

What does the 3-2 win-loss record against Lin Dan mean to you?

I have really good record against big players because I watch carefully each and every player in the circuit. I have certain plans for each and every player. A couple of years ago, I could beat Lee Chong Wei, Chen Long, Lin Dan. It is not just about the game but about certain things they are not really comfortable doing. That's where, probably, I am better.

Playing Lin Dan is always tough, especially because he is a left-hander. Left-handers always have weird angles. You have to accept the fact that we don't have left-handers in practice sessions. And, left-handers generally practice with right-handers. Lin Dan may practice with Chen Long, etc. For Lin Dan, it is easy to play a right-hander. For us, when regularly playing right-handers, and suddenly to play left-handers in tournaments, things are different. A stroke from, say, Momota's forehand side is not a stroke that comes from backhand side of a right-hander. Drops from Momota are sharp. Angles are entirely different and straight smashes from backhand side, his favourite side, are at tough angles, and he was scoring so many points against Sai (in semifinals). Angles are not comfortable for us as we don't face left-handers. We have to be tactically involved against left-handers, be very cautious. We have to change on that particular day because he is a left-hander, playing strokes he is uncomfortable with.

I always feel left-handers are not comfortable with backhand. But, it is really tough to keep pushing shuttles to their wrong side as we are not used to it. We are used to keep pushing shuttles to forehand side of left-handers, when it is actually backhand for right-handers. It is really important you are mentally telling yourself you are playing a left-hander each and every time. Against Lin Dan, I have been cautious of the things I have done.

The 2015 French Open was the toughest I beat Lin Dan. Now it's relatively better. Last month, in Australia Open, he beat me. You cannot write him off. It is really good to have a good head-to-head record against someone as great as Lin Dan. It takes a while to get adjusted to left-hander's angles. Against Lin Dan, I go with 5-6 plans, and I need to be quick to change. I can't go with just one plan. He is very good in countering those. With so much experience, they catch you when you are doing wrong.

What's wrong with Kidambi Srikanth? He hasn't won a title for 22 months.

It is very important to understand in sports that nobody can be at the top level for a long time, apart from a few. You need to extremely talented or be extremely fit. When someone like Srikanth has been out with injuries for a couple of months, and still not feeling fully pain-free, as a player I understand it really well. I have been through injuries many times. For a player, that is the biggest challenge. Sameer (Verma) has mastered this quality of coming back after each break and coming back to top level in a fast way. Guys regularly injured are myself, Sameer, Srikanth and (Parupalli) Kashyap. Srikanth has been lately getting injured. The other three have been injured for so many years. We lost a lot of months and years because of that. With Srikanth, when things don't go right, they just don't go right. You have to accept that. A couple of years ago at 18-18, you would expect him to win 9 out of 10 times. From there, he would play a semifinal or the final. When those wins don't come, which is happening now, the confidence gets hit – 'What's happening?', 'Why am I not winning matches?' You start doubting every angle.

And, when doubts start arising, you falter. Then, it is really tough to get the confidence back unless you win something big, unless you win 3-4 matches on the trot. You will get that confidence back. It takes time. He could not train as much as he wanted to in the last 3-4 months. The tournaments have been continuous. He has been playing as many of them. That's why he may not be looking in shape. Badminton is very strenuous. When you have a small niggle, you cannot give 100 per cent.

How much of not getting the Arjuna award fire you up at the Worlds? You took to Twitter to express your disappointment.

When it came, I genuinely thought I was a contender for this. I was really disappointed. I had to react. The last thing I could do was tweet. I could not go to the ministry level, I don't have anyone to talk to. I felt, on paper, I was far better than Sai. Probably, now he is better than me after winning Worlds bronze. When you are giving something on performance basis and it is written on paper these are the things you need to get the award, and I have the medals to show, and to still say I am not good enough, that's disappointing. You take last four years for Arjuna award and to say I have not done well in 2019, that's upsetting. In the last 4 years, I don't remember Sai beating me in rankings until I was sick, or having any of the medals that I have. In all the aspects I was above Sai. Looking at all those, it was really frustrating. I wanted to prove something at the Worlds. I was just angry with everyone in the badminton circuit. And, the draw was not in favour for me. Maybe if not for Momota, I may have pulled it off.

How are you looking at Olympics?

It is tough. I don't have any points to defend in the next months as I did not play last year because of health. The way I played in Basel, I am really positive. There was something that I felt better, I need to work on it and believe that I am in the top tier, I am up there with the best. I need to trust myself. Olympics is tough for me. Sameer, Srikanth, Sai are there. I am not really thinking about Olympics qualification. I need to be fit and push through and play like how I played last week on a daily basis.

Prannoy’s medal cabinet in seniors
Gold: Commonwealth Games 2018 (mixed team)
Bronze: Asian Championships 2018 (men’s singles)
Bronze: Asia Team Championships 2016 (men’s team)
Gold: South Asian Games 2016 (men’s team)
Silver: South Asian Games 2016 (men’s singles)

Did You Know?

HS Prannoy has 3 Grand Prix Gold titles (BWF World Tour Super 300) – 2014 Indonesia Masters, 2016 Swiss Open, 2017 US Open – but is yet to win a Superseries title (BWF World Tour Super 500 and above)

N ZONE

27 HS Prannoy’s rank in the latest BWF rankings. He has risen 3 ranks following his Worlds’ pre-quarterfinal show last week