Everybody was open to saying anything: HS Prannoy credits WhatsApp group for India's success at Thomas Cup
HS Prannoy credits WhatsApp group for India's success at Thomas Cup
On Sunday (May 16), the Kidambi Srikanth-starrer Indian men's badminton team created history as India won the Thomas Cup for the first time ever, beating Indonesia in the final by 3-0. Thus, India became only the sixth country to win the Thomas Cup, which has been dominated by Indonesiaso far.
India defeated Malaysia, Denmark and Indonesia in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, respectively, to stun the sporting fraternity and give immense pride and happiness to the countrymen back home. The likes of Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, etc. all played a key role in the memorable triumph, which has given a huge boost to badminton in India.
Talking about Prannoy, he was India's saviour in crunch moments during the quarters and semis and won the team big moments to help them proceed ahead. Recalling how a WhatsApp group led to the team's honest bonding and led to their triumph, Prannoy said as per a report in India Today, "We had this WhatsApp group set up just after the Thomas Cup team was decided. I created the group. We thought that we need a group to have open conversations about everything regarding the tournament. It definitely helped us because everybody was open to saying anything in the group, discuss freely. The name was 'it's coming home'. I am glad that the Thomas Cup is actually home now."
“It was really important to have a good vibe around us and have open conversations about each day's performance. On tour, 95 percent of the time, we play individually,” the 29-year-old shuttler added.
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“Everything started falling in place, once we came here. Everybody wanted this to happen for India. We knew we hadn't done well in the team events. We never had a good history in team events. We wanted to change it. We wanted everyone to be scared of us. I think we wanted everybody to know we are world-beaters. I can't be more happier,” concluded Prannoy.