BWF World Championship: HS Prannoy crashes out in semis despite good start, wins bronze medal

India’s HS Prannoy had to settle for a bronze medal in the ongoing BWF World Championship in Denmark after he crashed out at the semifinal stage against Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand on Saturday, August 26. Despite starting on the front foot, the ace India shuttler saw the tables turn on him as Vitidsarn came from a game down to win 18-21, 21-13, 21-14. The defeat though still guaranteed Prannoy a bronze medal at the BWF World Championship.

Prannoy crashes out

Having shown great composure in the quarterfinal tie against defending champion Viktor Axelsen, Prannoy led from the front to win the first game 21-18. He even had a11-5 lead in the next at mid-interval and looked on course for a dominant win. However, the game then sawa comeback from Vitidsarn who won the next two games with ease to book a place in Sunday’s final.

In winning the bronze medal, Prannoy became the fifth Indian to win a medal in the men’s singles event at the BWF World Championships. He joins the likes of Prakash Padukone (1983), B Sai Praneeth (2019), Lakshya Sen (2021) and Kidambi Srikanth (2021). Srikanth is the only one to win a silver medal, having lost in the finals of the 2021 championships while the rest ended with bronze medals.

Other Indian shuttlers to win BWF World Championship medals include P V Sindhu – five times while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won in the women’s doubles in 2011. Saina Nehwal also bagged a silver (2015) and bronze (2017) medal at the BWF World Championship. Overall, this is India’s 14th medal at the prestigious championships, with the gold medal being the only piece missing yet.

Prannoy was India’s only remaining hope at the championships till he crashed out on Saturday. Earlier, India’s men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost in the quarterfinals on Friday. World No 2 pair Satwiksairaj-Chirag lost 21-18, 21-19 against World No. 11 Danish opponents Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in straight games.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE