BWF World Tour Finals: Prannoy receives a tough group; clubbed with Olympic champion Axelsen, Naraoka and Lu

New Delhi, Dec 6: India shuttler Prannoy HS is the lone entry into the year-ending BWF World Tour Finals 2022 in Bangkok and the current World No. 12 is keen on ending the year on a high.

Playing in his first year-end tournament, Prannoy has been clubbed in Group A along with Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, Japan's Kodai Naraoka and China's Lu Guang Zu.

HS Prannoy seeded third

Third-seed Prannoy will fancy his chances of making it to the semifinals from the group stage, which starts Wednesday (December 7).

"I am really excited to start my BWF World Tour Finals campaign. It's my first time in the year-ending championships and I hope I can perform really well," said Prannoy.

PV Sindhu is the lone Indian shuttler to win the prestigious season-ending championships in 2018.

BWF World Rankings

World No. 12 Prannoy has reinvented himself this year with some power-packed performances, which helped him regain his position at the Top-15 of the BWF World Rankings almost after four years.

Good year for Prannoy

Prannoy helped the Indian team clinch their first Thomas Cup crown in May, finished runner-up at the Swiss Open Super 300 and reached the last four stage of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 and Malaysia Masters Super 500 events.

"We always believed in him, his game and his skills. He has performed significantly for a long time and it's time for him to win the title. His ability to defeat top players of the world, at any given day, makes him a strong contender to end up at the top of the podium at this year's BWF World Tour Finals," said Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary of the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Shuttlers qualify for this USD $1,500,000 tournament by earning points based on their performances in BWF World Tour events in a calendar year and Top-8 shuttlers/pairs compete in the BWF World Tour Finals.