Badminton

"Oh, yes! I finally have a world medal. I just zoned out, the only thing under my control is me. I was actually not thinking about anything else today, just thinking about what to do to take the next five points. A lot of thinking I was doing inside but was not aware of what was happening around me. I was pretty much in my zone after the second game," said Prannoy after the match.

But all this had looked difficult once men’s doubles second seeds Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were knocked out in the last eight stage earlier in the day and India’s medal hopes solely depended on Prannoy, who despite his current form went into the match as an underdog against the Dane.

Satwik and Chirag, who clinched maiden bronze in the last edition of the BWF World Championships, reached the quarterfinals of the ongoing edition in Denmark with a 21-15, 19-21, 21-9 win over Indonesia duo Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin.

India's top men's doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag marched into the Round of 16 with a comfortable win over Australia's Zhe Hooi Choo and Ming Chuen Lim at Court in the Royal Arena in Denmark's capital. Seeded second in men's doubles, Satwik and Chirag, defeated their world No. 156 opponents 21-16, 21-9 in the Round of 32 match. 

Prannoy, who won the Malaysia Masters -- his maiden World Tour title in May, will be up against world no. 24, China's Weng Hong Yang for the Australia Open title on Sunday. In the all-Indian semi-final clash, Prannoy and Priyanshu went toe-to-toe in the early exchanges. As the match progressed, both the Indian badminton players battled to gain the upper hand.

India's top men's singles player H.S Prannoy also caused an upset, beating the top-seeded Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in three games to storm into the semifinal where he will run into his compatriot, Priyanshu Rajawat. Prannoy defeated Anthony Ginting 16-21, 21-17, 21-14 in 73 minutes. 

Sindhu, who won a silver medal in the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 and a bronze in Tokyo 2020, defeated compatriot Aakarshi Kashyap 21-14, 21-10 in a 29-minute encounter. Srikanth registered an equally comprehensive victory, beating Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei 21-10, 21-17 in a second-round match in Court 3 at the Quaycentre in the BWF World Tour Super 500 event.

Lakshya, who reached the semifinals of the US Open before losing to All-England 2023 champion Li Shi Feng on July 16, defeated Koki Watanabe of Japan in straight games, 21-15, 21-19 in a 47-minute clash on Court 2 at the Yoyogi 1st Gymnasium in the Japanese capital. 

The 21-year-old Sen, currently ranked 13th in World Rankings, Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan 21-14, 21-16 in a 50-minute encounter in the BWF World Tour Super 750 event with a total prize fund of USD 800,000.

The reigning Asian champions started the season as world no. 5. The wins at Swiss Open 2023 (Super 300) and Indonesia Open 2023 (Super 1000) and Korea Open saw them jump above the Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who dropped a place to be at No 3.