A gripping battle with injuries every now and then has made HS Prannoy realise that crafting a tailor-made training programme for specific opponents and proper nutrition are non-negotiables to keep alive his dreams of winning medals for India (Pic: AFP)
Updated On: 2023-08-27 06:58 PM IST
Compiled by : Srijanee Majumdar
Prannoy's World Championships bronze was the culmination of a good season during which he bagged the Malaysian Masters title and finished runner-up at the Australian Open, besides managing a semifinal and three quarterfinal finishes
When Prannoy was diagnosed with a digestive reflux issue, he started working with Bangalore-based Invictus high performance lab to sort out his diet. He then started monitoring his glucose levels with Ultrahuman M1 patch, while wearing the Ultrahuman Ring AIR to track his training and recovery.
On Friday, Prannoy knocked out Olympic gold medallist and defending champion Viktor Axelsen to ensure a medal at the World Championships. He had come close to beating the world number one Dane during the Japan Open in July.
For long, Prannoy has been known as a giant killer but he didn't have a big title or a medal to show in his cabinet. He had made an immediate impact, scalping the likes of Taufik Hidayat, Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan while achieving the world number 8 ranking in 2017. But health issues affected his game as he plummeted to 33 in 2021. However, he turned his career around at the back end of 2021.
For Prannoy, next up will be China Open Super 1000 (September 5-10). He is likely to skip the Hong Kong Open Super 500 the next week before training his guns at the Asian Games (September 23-October 8) in Hangzhou.
(With PTI inputs)
