What's the story?
Indian badminton ace HS Prannoy's loss in the quarter-finals of the $120,000 Yonex Swiss Open Grand Prox Gold got compounded by a knee injury that he sustained during the match on Friday. The World No. 23 kept it close with the second seed and All England Championships runner-up Shi Yuqi in the first game but could not continue the fight thereafter because of the injury and ultimately succumbed to a 19-21, 11-21 defeat in 39 minutes.
Later in his Instagram post, the Pullela Gopichand protege revealed how his title defence ended in pain.
"Well Swiss open-ended in a disappointing way !!," the 24-year-old wrote. "A close first set loss and a knee injury later in the second game meant I had to leave the Quarterfinals match in a sad way !! Hope the injury isn't serious and I get back on court in a couple of days!! Thank you all for your support! Next up would be India open Super Series if my knee recovers on time. Cheers !!," Prannoy elaborated.
In case you didn't know...
HS Prannoy was the defending champion at the Swiss Open. Last year as a 13th seed, he made a brilliant run to the title, accounting for three seeds along the way.
The heart of the matter
Prannoy had three good wins at the Swiss Open before falling to Shi Yuqi. In the third round, he made a stunning comeback after being totally outplayed by the 10th seed Qiao Bin to edge the Chinese, 9-21, 23-21, 21-15.
This was his second straight comeback victory over Bin in as many weeks. At the All England Championships too, he trailed the Chinese in the decider and was two points away from defeat before he made a spectacular turnaround.
What's next?
Prannoy will be trying his best to get fit in time for the India Open Superseries that is scheduled to be held in Delhi from March 28-April 2.
Author's take
The injury could not have come at a worse time for Prannoy. The 24-year-old has been showing flashes of brilliance since the beginning of this season as he aims to get back to the top 15 of the world where he once belonged.
He started 2017 in a spectacular fashion and remained unbeaten in the second season of the Premier Badminton League. At the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships, he even beat the World No. 4 Son Wan Ho.
Let us hope the injury is not serious enough to interrupt his momentum and he can recover in time for the India Open Superseries at home.
