HS Prannoy not thinking about Olympics yet, targets Top 3 ranking

HS Prannoy

He may be one of the front-runners in the Olympic race, but star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy doesn't want to think about Paris right now and is instead focussing on "short-term targets" like breaking into the world's Top Three.

The most consistent Indian singles player in the last 12 months, Prannoy, ranked World No. 9, won the Malaysia Masters in May and came within sniffing distance of bagging another title in Sydney, before finishing runner-up at last week's Australian Open. "Right now, probably I am in a good position. I had a few decent tournaments post-May, but I would say I am never satisfied and I always want to go out there and win big tournaments, that's been always my ambition," Prannoy said.

"Last couple of years, I have been consistently able to play quarter-finals and semi-finals and now I am trying to make sure that I go that extra one more round and be in the final and win those tournaments." The 31-year-old Indian, who reached three quarter-finals and a semi-final besides the two finals this season, had achieved the World No. 8 ranking in 2017 before health issues affected his game as he plummeted to 33 in 2021.

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However, the man from Thiruvananthapuram returned to the Top 10 in December last year before achieving a career-best World No. 7 ranking in May this year. "In the coming months that will be the challenge: to get into the Top Five, or be in the Top Three in the world, which I have never been able to do till now. I think that is the target as of now. I am not looking way ahead, at the Olympics," Prannoy said.

"Now the targets are much shorter, how we can perform next week or say World Championship or China Open, that's the only target and the rest of things will take care of itself." The next assignment will be the World Championships (August 21-27) in Denmark, followed by China Open Super 1000 (September 5-10) and the Asian Games (September 23-October 8) in Hangzhou.

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