With less than a week remaining for the 2016 Thomas Cup to flag off, India’s HS Prannoy has been declared medically unfit to play any further role on the court for the Indian team at the tournament.
The 23-year-old shuttler who had already won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold title earlier this year picked up a toe injury towards the end of April. Though not a cause for serious concern, it has done enough damage to rule him out of the 29th edition of the prestigious tournament to be held at the Kunshan Sports Centre in China.
Prannoy feels that he might have to skip the Indonesian Open scheduled at the end of this month due to his lack of fitness and training. However, the 23-year-old remains optimistic while preparing for a smooth return to the court, which he hopes isn’t too far away.
In his absence, a depleted Indian team will now feature the quartet of Sameer and Sourabh Verma, B Sai Praneeth and Ajay Jayaram to chase the title in singles.
