BWF World Championships 2023: Parupalli Kashyap backs HS Prannoy to win medal at marquee event

Senior Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap has backed compatriot HS Prannoy to win a medal at the ongoing BWF World Championships 2023, which is taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ninth seed Prannoy, who has been in tremendous form this year, opened his campaign at the marquee event with a straight games 24-22, 21-10 win over Finland's Kalle Koljonen in men's singles first round match that lasted for 43 minutes on Monday (August 20).

The 31-year-old will next face Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in the round of 32, and his compatriot Kashyap feels Prannoy has a great chance of winning a medal at the event.

"Percentage wise, I would say 80-85% right up there, because the entire year he's been doing really well. In fact, from the second lockdown in 2021, he's been doing really well," Kashyap said in an interview on JioCinema.

Prannoy won the Indonesia Masters title earlier this year and finished runner up in the recent Australian Open Badminton 2023 tournament on the BWF tour. Kashyap believes his fighting display makes him a favourite to win a medal.

"Consistent performances everywhere, beating top players all the time, or even if he has a bad day, it's not a match he has lost easily. It's always like a close three-setter which he is losing." Kashyap added.

"So, I can see that he is very confident. In the last World Championships also, I expected him to win a medal but he wasn't probably one of the favourites to win. This time, I am quite confident that he is one of the favourites to win a medal."

The Indian shuttler is in the same half as defending champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. Prannoy could probably face the Dane in the quarterfinal. So, Kashyap given some tips to Prannoy, who has failed to beat Axelsen in 7 of 9 attempts.

"If I was Prannoy, I wouldn't even be thinking of the quarter-finals, because the first thing is the first round. Draws are tough. From the first round itself, you have to get into a rhythm," Kashyap said.

"But if both of them make it to the quarter-finals, I think the only player Viktor in the last 6-8 months would fear was Prannoy, and maybe a few others. Prannoy has troubled him and also beaten him. I think in the last four times, Prannoy has won twice and Viktor the remaining two."

Prannoy has also been invovled in many tournaments this year and is set to play a big part at the Asian Games. So, Kashyap also gave Prannoy some advice when it comes to managing the hectic schedule.

"Every individual is different. He has a good team around him. I can see that. In the last one-and-a half years, he's created a team around him with good trainers," Prannoy added.

"The coaches are anyways top level. And I think they have a plan in place. It's finally a result-oriented thing which we are doing. If the result shows then it's working. If it doesn't show then you'll have to make changes."