Malaysia Masters Super 500: How veterans HS Prannoy, Srikanth Kidambi wound the clock back with upset wins
The two veterans needed a day that reinforced that the work they have been putting in the background is worth it. On Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, they received a shot in the arm. As they both completed their first-round upset job against higher-ranked opponents, they both let out a huge roar. Prannoy had lost the last three times he had faced Kenta Nishimoto but managed to arrest that mini-streak with a 19-21, 21-17, 21-16 win in 82 minutes against the world No. 12.
Srikanth historically had a good record against Lu Guang Zu, winning five of his previous six meetings against the rising Chinese talent, but the last win was back in July 2024. Lu is one of the form players on tour, reaching the final of the Badminton Asia Championships and semifinals last week at the Thailand Open. But Srikanth – despite some shaky moments – produced some typically silky moments of elegant badminton in a 23-21, 13-21, 21-11 win in 57 minutes against the world No 13.
#MalaysiaMastersSuper500
HS Prannoy is back at the event where he won the title in 2023 and produces some vintage stuff as he digs deep to beat the ever-challenging Kenta Nishimoto. Was down 7-12 in Game 3, caught up & eventually raced through. Good to see him at it.
🎥 BWF TV pic.twitter.com/mAllMOgOKW
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 21, 2025
'I felt this was a very important win for Prannoy, just for him to understand what he is still capable of. It was good to see him digging deep in the match, to go for the attack and find the momentum at the end,' his coach and former India shuttler Gurusaidutt told The Indian Express. 'He was in good positions this year at the All England against Toma Popov, Anders Antonsen and Jonatan Christie at Sudirman Cup, and so on. But at crucial points, there were confidence and the energy level drops that were happening. And that happens for a guy who has issues with health, and over a period, you know, he's unable to train as much as he used to.' Guru also mentioned that it was something Prannoy specifically tried to simulate in training, putting himself in uncomfortable conditions.
Prannoy, a former champion of this tournament in 2023, came back from 7-12 down in the decider to win 14 of the next 18 points. 'The turning point was the five straight points, when he caught up at 12-12,' Gurusaidutt said.
For Srikanth, too, life on tour hasn't been easy. But Gurusaidutt – along with Parupalli Kashyap and Pullela Gopichand – have kept the belief, while the former world No 1 himself has been trying to be more vocal in training, be more aggressive on court. His skills have never been in doubt. 'He is a guy who can trouble anybody. Sometimes he misses out because he tries too much. He has found a bit more acceptance about where he is. And for a guy of his caliber, to play two really tough qualification matches on one day and come through, then win in three games against a player like Lu is important.'
Gurusaidutt, however, quickly added that it has to be more than just one-off wins. 'They needed these wins to believe that this is still possible. I see the hunger in both of them. But after the match, everything quickly went back to normal. Head down, prepare.'
Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assistant Editor and is based in New Delhi. ... Read More
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
28 minutes ago
- Mint
‘Virat, the nation needs you!' - Shashi Tharoor urges Kohli to rethink Test retirement amid England vs India series
Shashi Tharoor has urged Virat Kohli to rethink his Test retirement after the senior Congress leader shared that he had been missing the former captain 'never as much as' in the ongoing fifth Test against England. Kohli, who had a tough run in Australia last year, took a sudden Test retirement just before the England series along with Rohit Sharma. In the absence of Kohli, the young Indian team in transition performed brilliantly in England in all the five matches, but Tharoor felt Kohli's grit, intensity and his presence in the field might had led to a different outcome. The fifth Test is poised to end in a thriller. 'I've been missing @imVkohli a few times during this series, but never as much as in this Test match. His grit and intensity, his inspirational presence in the field, not to mention his abundant batting skills, might have led to a different outcome. Is it too late to call him out of retirement? Virat, the nation needs you!' wrote Tharoor on X. Kohli bid adieu to the longest format of the game with 9230 runs from 123 matches. Meanwhile, bad light interrupted play during the final session of the fourth day in the fifth Test on Sunday. England were 339/6 at the time interruption, needing 35 runs to win the final Test and the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India, meanwhile, needed just three wickets to win the Test and square the series 2-2 as Chris Woakes has already been ruled out of the match due to injury. However Woakes was seen dressed up with his hand in sling. Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton were batting at 2 and 0 respectively when the umpires checked the light meter and decided the halt the proceedings.
Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
How India's junior squash ended a 13-year world medal wait
Mumbai: Soon after the Indian men's team lost to Korea in the quarter-finals of the 2024 World Squash Junior Championships to stumble one step short of a medal, Harinder Pal Sandhu, coach of the team for the first time, set his mind on the next edition. That not only entailed hunting for the next crop of young probables but also making a quiet promise. The Indian junior men's team won bronze at the recent world junior championships in Cairo (World Junior Squash Championships) 'To never have that feeling again, if ever the opportunity came up again,' said Harinder. It did, against the same team at the same stage. This time in Cairo, up against a more fancied, third seeded Asian champion Korea, the Indians would script a 2-1 upset and secure a medal. Although they lost to USA in the semi-finals, the bronze by the boys added to 17-year-old Anahat Singh's individual bronze from the recent world juniors. The team medal was equally significant, if not more, given that the last time an Indian men's team medalled at the prestigious event was in 2012 (bronze). Sandhesh PR, Yusha Nafees, Arihant KS and Aryaveer Dewan ended a more than decade-long wait, and showed promise in the men's game to go with Anahat's potential among the women in a sport that will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles in 2028. Of the four medallists, only Arihant was part of the previous edition in Houston. The other first-timers were zeroed in by Harinder, a former top-50 pro whose career was curtailed by a severe back injury in 2018. The 36-year-old coach's 'eyes were locked on' the national and Asian circuit over the last year. 'I would study their games in every tournament, or whenever they came to play in Chennai. And then I would speak to each one of them every day,' Harinder said. Aryaveer, 16, won the U-17 individual gold at the Asian Junior Championships in July. He is also a 2023 U-15 US Open winner. Arihant, 18, was the India No.1 in the U-15 age group. He beat Korea's Lee Jong-hyeok in the decider, after the tie was locked 1-1. Yusha, 17, was India No.1 in the U-17 category. He gave India the 1-0 lead. Sandesh won the U-19 title at the WSC Classic Open in January. Each has different personalities and plays a different game, said Harinder. Sandesh, the No.1 player in the team, was down on confidence after a below-par individual outing. He asked Harinder to drop him down in the team order. The coach refused. Instead, he engaged the teen in plenty of talk that was at times polite and angry yet always honest. For Arihant and Sandesh, this was their last junior cycle as they prepare to step up into the demanding pro world. 'Both showed they're ready to play on the pro circuit. The game that they played over the last week was very professional, and different to what the juniors play. I hope they will reach top 100 and 50 soon,' said Harinder. 'As for Yusha and Aryaveer, they have the chance to be in the team next year too, provided they keep their level up. This was a good experience for them, and now they know how much they need to work harder if they have to change the colour of the medal.' Harinder, a multiple Asian Games medallist, singled out mindset as the biggest challenge in translating junior promise at the pro level, where many talented youngsters have faltered. In these four though he sees potential to take forward the men's game in the country. As for his coaching career, also in its young days, the team bronze is a tick but not bold enough. 'I'm thankful that SRFI (squash federation) and SAI gave me another opportunity to get this medal,' he said. 'But the satisfaction will come when I can get an Indian or Indians in the final two.'
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Vaishnavi Patil's breakthrough after heartbreaking misses, from mud wrestling Maharashtra to World Championships squad
Audible gasps went around as Vaishnavi Patil of Maharashtra took down Muskan of Haryana to win the trial for the World Wrestling Championships berth in the 65kg category at the wrestling hall at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. The atmosphere was a measure of the unexpectedness of her triumph, and the most excited were the coach and the wrestlers cheering for Vaishnavi. The 22-year-old from Kalyan, Maharashtra, won an India berth for an international event for the first time, and that too for the most prestigious tournament there is, making her win even grander. Vaishnavi saw Sakshi Malik on the Olympic podium for the first time during the 2016 Rio Olympics and decided to take up wrestling on the mat. Maharashtra has a huge culture of mud wrestling, like Haryana, but it barely transitions to mat wrestling. However, Vaishnavi was adamant about taking up the sport she saw on TV after wrestling in mud. 'When I saw Sakshi Malik for the first time in 2016, I knew I wanted to do this. Mat wasn't available in my area, and I used to wrestle just in mud,' Vaishnavi told The Indian Express on the sidelines. After wrestling for four years in mud, she made the switch in 2020 and shifted to Hisar to train under her coach Jasbeer at the Sushil Kumar Akhada. 'I am processing it right now. I have been constantly coming for trials, but I always miss out on the final berth. This feels like all of my hard work is finally paying off. However, this is just the start, and I have to win many more such matches,' said Vaishnavi, who was ecstatic and almost breathless after many photo requests after her win. Vaishanvi has been a consistent presence in the wrestling selection events for the past four years. She participated in trials for the Asian Games, Asian Championships and also for the previous World Championships in 2023. However, losses in the semis and quarters would mean that she could never celebrate. 'During my earlier losses, I would get depressed and sometimes wouldn't eat after going back to the academy. But my parents and my coach would always ask me to trust the process. My father always said that your hard work is never in vain. I was losing every time, but I knew that I didn't have to leave my zidd to get better,' said Vaishnavi. Usually, athletes start early from the junior level in the sport of wrestling and progress gradually through the ranks to play at the senior level. Vaishanvi, however, will be playing directly at the World Championships without any pedigree at the junior level internationally, but purely with her never-say-die attitude. Usually, athletes are scouted by coaches, but Vaishnavi did the reverse and scouted a coach for herself. During the 2020 Khelo India Youth Games in Assam, Vaishnavi saw students from a certain academy doing well and asked her father to enquire about them. 'We saw Jasbeer's sir girls doing well, and I asked my father to check where his academy is.' After enquiring about the whereabouts, the Patil family traveled all the way from Kalyan to Hisar. 'After we came to Hisar, Coach Saab took me into his academy, and I started working slowly on my skills. I knew I had to work more than others,' she said. Her coach, Jasbeer, concurred that there was a lot of work to be done before Vaishnavi got ready to take on other wrestlers. 'Zameen aur aasmaan ka farq hai jab aayi thi aur ab mein,' Jasbeer said (There is a huge difference now from when she came here). 'She is hard hard-working kid, and after training her for the past five years, today I am the happiest. I had goosebumps sitting in the corner when Vaishnavi won the bout.' Back in Kalyan, Dilip Patil received multiple congratulatory messages and calls from journalists enquiring about his family history amid a busy day in his dhaba. 'My phone is buzzing and all of us here are very happy,' Patil told The Indian Express. 'When I sent her to train in Haryana, the only dream was that my kid represents India at the highest level.' The Patil family would take turns staying with Vaishnavi. 'Sometimes her mother would stay with her for six months, sometimes her brother, and sometimes me. This time, Coach Saab told us not to worry.' Vaishnavi would stay in Hisar for the majority of the year, but would go back to Maharashtra to fight in Dangals. 'She would go back to fight dangals, but this time I asked her parents to let her be with me as I was able to see that she is progressing rapidly,' Jasbeer said. While this is just the first step, Vaishnavi knows where she stands and what needs to be done. 'I was waiting for one chance, and I have gotten it after so many defeats, I won't let it go in vain.'
