Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth Monday claimed that administrative goof-ups by the Badminton Association of India have robbed them of participation at the Asia Badminton Championship, an allegation that the BAI refuted.

India will be represented by Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in men's singles at the $&nbsp;400,000 event in Wuhan, China, commencing on Tuesday after the BAI allegedly did not confirm the entries of Prannoy and Praneeth to the organisers.

"According to the process, Badminton Asia confederation sent the allocations informing who are the players who all have qualified from a country. All other countries like Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia have four entries even though Indonesia and Malaysian players are ranked way below me and Praneeth," Prannoy told PTI.

"So I enquired about the rules and came to know BAI didn't reply to the e-mails confirming our entries," added the 26-year-old, who had won a bronze at the last edition.

The BAI, however, said in a statement that Badminton Asia asked for only two entries in men's singles and it sent the names of Srikanth and Verma based on their world rankings.

"Based on the e-mail received from Badminton Asia, we were asked to send names of two players each for Men Singles, Women's Singles; three names each for Men's and Women's doubles and 4 players for mixed doubles.

And the draw that was published based on the World Ranking of players dated week of February 26, 2019, mentioned Kidambi Srikanth (World Ranking 6) and Sameer Verma (World Ranking 11) in the main draw as per the ranking eligibility list published by Badminton Asia and the same was followed to send the players for the Championships," the BAI said in a statement.

Prannoy, who had been battling a gastroesophageal reflux disease since last year, has missed out on a lot of time.

He was looking good in the last few weeks, having reached the quarterfinals at India Open, but now he won't have the chance to defend his semifinal ranking points.

"It happened in 2016 also. ABC was the last event for the Olympic race and me and Ajay Jayaram were also running for the Olympics. Then Kashyap and Srikanth got the entries, so that time also nobody told us. At that time also BAI didn't confirm.

"Last year we all played because the guy who send the entries, Abhijit, was doing everything correctly, now I don't know what is happening, who is missing. The system is entirely messed up," alleged the 26-year-old.

"Next year ABC will come in the Tokyo qualification and if they mess it up again then I won't be able to take it," added a frustrated Prannoy.

According to sources, the BAI did not send the entries of around 10 shuttlers, including top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, for the New Zealand Open (April 30 to May 5), which starts the Olympic qualification race.

"Almost 10 entries have been missed even though players had sent their names before the deadline and they are not even apologising for it," Prannoy claimed. 
Satwik had been nursing a shoulder injury and was missing in action this season.

They had planned to start the year with the New Zealand Open but now they have decided to utilise the time playing international challenger events in Brazil and Denmark.

"After we came to know that our entries were not sent we decided to play at Brazil and Denmark," Chirag said.

Prannoy also alleged that travelling for tournaments too have became difficult as the players mostly come to know about the ticket confirmation at the last moment.

"The guys who is handling our entries, travelling, transporting is messing it up for the last five months since Abhijit quit BAI.

"Ticketing is done at last moment. If we are travelling on Saturday, we are getting to know on that day itself and we are getting worse flights. Why can't they confirm our tickets five days before," asked Prannoy.

He also claimed that they were stranded in Hong Kong during the Asia Mixed team championship, apparently, due to another goof-up by the BAI.

"When we went to Hong Kong for ABC mixed team event, we were stranded at the airport for two hours. There was no transportation for us because BAI didn't send the request to the organisers," he said.

"The BAI official sent in the transportation request for Hong Kong event in the form of Wuhan event (individual event). Can you imagine that?," Prannoy said.&nbsp;

Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth Monday claimed that administrative goof-ups by the Badminton Association of India have robbed them of participation at the Asia Badminton Championship, an allegation that the BAI refuted.

Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth Monday claimed that administrative goof-ups by the Badminton Association of India have robbed them of participation at the Asia Badminton Championship, an allegation that the BAI refuted. India will be represented by Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in men's singles at the $ 400,000 event in Wuhan, China, commencing on Tuesday after the BAI allegedly did not confirm the entries of Prannoy and Praneeth to the organisers. "According to the process, Badminton Asia confederation sent the allocations informing who are the players who all have qualified from a country. All other countries like Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia have four entries even though Indonesia and Malaysian players are ranked way below me and Praneeth," Prannoy told PTI. "So I enquired about the rules and came to know BAI didn't reply to the e-mails confirming our entries," added the 26-year-old, who had won a bronze at the last edition. The BAI, however, said in a statement that Badminton Asia asked for only two entries in men's singles and it sent the names of Srikanth and Verma based on their world rankings. "Based on the e-mail received from Badminton Asia, we were asked to send names of two players each for Men Singles, Women's Singles; three names each for Men's and Women's doubles and 4 players for mixed doubles. And the draw that was published based on the World Ranking of players dated week of February 26, 2019, mentioned Kidambi Srikanth (World Ranking 6) and Sameer Verma (World Ranking 11) in the main draw as per the ranking eligibility list published by Badminton Asia and the same was followed to send the players for the Championships," the BAI said in a statement. Prannoy, who had been battling a gastroesophageal reflux disease since last year, has missed out on a lot of time. He was looking good in the last few weeks, having reached the quarterfinals at India Open, but now he won't have the chance to defend his semifinal ranking points. "It happened in 2016 also. ABC was the last event for the Olympic race and me and Ajay Jayaram were also running for the Olympics. Then Kashyap and Srikanth got the entries, so that time also nobody told us. At that time also BAI didn't confirm. "Last year we all played because the guy who send the entries, Abhijit, was doing everything correctly, now I don't know what is happening, who is missing. The system is entirely messed up," alleged the 26-year-old. "Next year ABC will come in the Tokyo qualification and if they mess it up again then I won't be able to take it," added a frustrated Prannoy. According to sources, the BAI did not send the entries of around 10 shuttlers, including top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, for the New Zealand Open (April 30 to May 5), which starts the Olympic qualification race. "Almost 10 entries have been missed even though players had sent their names before the deadline and they are not even apologising for it," Prannoy claimed. Satwik had been nursing a shoulder injury and was missing in action this season. They had planned to start the year with the New Zealand Open but now they have decided to utilise the time playing international challenger events in Brazil and Denmark. "After we came to know that our entries were not sent we decided to play at Brazil and Denmark," Chirag said. Prannoy also alleged that travelling for tournaments too have became difficult as the players mostly come to know about the ticket confirmation at the last moment. "The guys who is handling our entries, travelling, transporting is messing it up for the last five months since Abhijit quit BAI. "Ticketing is done at last moment. If we are travelling on Saturday, we are getting to know on that day itself and we are getting worse flights. Why can't they confirm our tickets five days before," asked Prannoy. He also claimed that they were stranded in Hong Kong during the Asia Mixed team championship, apparently, due to another goof-up by the BAI. "When we went to Hong Kong for ABC mixed team event, we were stranded at the airport for two hours. There was no transportation for us because BAI didn't send the request to the organisers," he said. "The BAI official sent in the transportation request for Hong Kong event in the form of Wuhan event (individual event). Can you imagine that?," Prannoy said.

Top shuttlers Prannoy, Praneeth blame BAI's administrative mess for missing Asian Badminton Championship

HS Prannoy is not worried about familiar foes such as three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei, and says it is the surprise element of the unheralded shutters, who could pose a bigger threat to his medal aspirations at next month&#39;s Commonwealth Games.

Set to make his CWG debut, Prannoy said he is in good shape but would not take any player lightly, especially the lesser-known ones.

&quot;There are many players such as Rajiv Ouseph and Lee Chong Wei who have played in the past at CWG. But it is the others who we should be wary of. There are others who are actually good and can trouble you on certain days because you don&#39;t know how they play,&quot; Prannoy told PTI.

Last season, Prannoy made the transition from a rare talent to an emerging star when he outclassed two stalwarts&nbsp;former world no 1 Chong Wei and Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion Chen Long of China in successive days to reach the semifinals at Indonesia Super Series.

His victories became part of the badminton folklore as he emerged as the first Indian to beat the Big Three&nbsp;Chong Wei, Chen Long and Lin Dan (2014 French Open).

His twin wins cleared the way for compatriot Kidambi Srikanth, who grabbed the opportunity and clinched the premier title&nbsp;his first among the four crowns that he won last season.

Prannoy continued his impressive run and stitched together consistent performances to reach the quarters and semifinals regularly.

He clinched the US Open Grand Prix Gold, before dispatching Chong Wei again at the Denmark Open, putting to rest all doubts about his prowess.

Despite being laid low by foot warts, Prannoy showed tremendous grit as he recovered quickly and dished out some sensational performances at the All England Championship last week, to reach his maiden quarterfinals.

&quot;I didn&#39;t give much thought before the All England because I had started training after recovering from foot corns just a couple of weeks before the tournament,&quot; he said.

&quot;But CWG should be good. I&#39;m very happy to be in the CWG team. I have good time to prepare. In the next few days, I will put in more effort in training and be in better shape. I am looking for good six days of badminton.&quot;

The first spark in Prannoy was seen by his father, a former All India Air Force champion and a self-taught coach, who taught his son the initial tricks of the trade.

From a promising youngster winning a silver medal at the 2010 Youth Olympics, Prannoy is now one of the most dependable shuttlers, ranked 12th in the world and second only to world no 2 Srikanth in India.

His journey in the senior circuit has been ridden with injuries and heartbreaks and they affected his training and progress. A knee injury in 2011 before the nationals was followed by a back injury in 2012, which took more than half a year to heal.

The following year, Prannoy reached the finals of the Tata Open. In 2014, a series of semifinal appearances at Bitburger, India Open Grand Prix Gold, Macau and a final berth at Vietnam was followed by a maiden Grand Prix Gold win at Indonesia, which saw him knocking on the top 20 bracket.

However, another injury-marred year followed, but he still managed to reach a career-best world ranking of 12. The highlight of the season was his sensational win over two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion Lin Dan of China at the French Open opener.

Next year, Prannoy clinched the 2016 Swiss Open but again sustained a toe injury at the Singapore Open and subsequently missed the Thomas Cup.

He was in rampaging form at the 2017 Premier Badminton League in January but injuries to his knee and toe once again came back to haunt him. However, his decision to skip a few events in Malaysia and Singapore and regain full fitness under the watchful eye of Indonesian coach Mulyo Handono showed results as he exploded in Indonesia.

The 25-year-old from Kerela also clinched his maiden National title, beating Srikanth in the final. He was in good form in the PBL 2018 but then developed foot warts, which saw him completely skip events at Malaysia and Indonesia and only turn up for appearance&#39;s sake at India Open.

&quot;It&#39;s not easy to recover from injuries, train and reach top 20. I am happy the way I come back after each injury and I might not have won a super series tournament but I always believe something big will happen,&quot; Prannoy said. 
Ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Prannoy said he is not thinking much about the event and put undue pressure on himself.

&quot;Pressure of a big event is different as there are expectations. So it is better I don&#39;t think about it and just go and play my natural game,&quot; he signed off.&nbsp;

The badminton player is set to make his CWG debut

HS Prannoy is not worried about familiar foes such as three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei, and says it is the surprise element of the unheralded shutters, who could pose a bigger threat to his medal aspirations at next month's Commonwealth Games. Set to make his CWG debut, Prannoy said he is in good shape but would not take any player lightly, especially the lesser-known ones. "There are many players such as Rajiv Ouseph and Lee Chong Wei who have played in the past at CWG. But it is the others who we should be wary of. There are others who are actually good and can trouble you on certain days because you don't know how they play," Prannoy told PTI. Last season, Prannoy made the transition from a rare talent to an emerging star when he outclassed two stalwarts former world no 1 Chong Wei and Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion Chen Long of China in successive days to reach the semifinals at Indonesia Super Series. His victories became part of the badminton folklore as he emerged as the first Indian to beat the Big Three Chong Wei, Chen Long and Lin Dan (2014 French Open). His twin wins cleared the way for compatriot Kidambi Srikanth, who grabbed the opportunity and clinched the premier title his first among the four crowns that he won last season. Prannoy continued his impressive run and stitched together consistent performances to reach the quarters and semifinals regularly. He clinched the US Open Grand Prix Gold, before dispatching Chong Wei again at the Denmark Open, putting to rest all doubts about his prowess. Despite being laid low by foot warts, Prannoy showed tremendous grit as he recovered quickly and dished out some sensational performances at the All England Championship last week, to reach his maiden quarterfinals. "I didn't give much thought before the All England because I had started training after recovering from foot corns just a couple of weeks before the tournament," he said. "But CWG should be good. I'm very happy to be in the CWG team. I have good time to prepare. In the next few days, I will put in more effort in training and be in better shape. I am looking for good six days of badminton." The first spark in Prannoy was seen by his father, a former All India Air Force champion and a self-taught coach, who taught his son the initial tricks of the trade. From a promising youngster winning a silver medal at the 2010 Youth Olympics, Prannoy is now one of the most dependable shuttlers, ranked 12th in the world and second only to world no 2 Srikanth in India. His journey in the senior circuit has been ridden with injuries and heartbreaks and they affected his training and progress. A knee injury in 2011 before the nationals was followed by a back injury in 2012, which took more than half a year to heal. The following year, Prannoy reached the finals of the Tata Open. In 2014, a series of semifinal appearances at Bitburger, India Open Grand Prix Gold, Macau and a final berth at Vietnam was followed by a maiden Grand Prix Gold win at Indonesia, which saw him knocking on the top 20 bracket. However, another injury-marred year followed, but he still managed to reach a career-best world ranking of 12. The highlight of the season was his sensational win over two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion Lin Dan of China at the French Open opener. Next year, Prannoy clinched the 2016 Swiss Open but again sustained a toe injury at the Singapore Open and subsequently missed the Thomas Cup. He was in rampaging form at the 2017 Premier Badminton League in January but injuries to his knee and toe once again came back to haunt him. However, his decision to skip a few events in Malaysia and Singapore and regain full fitness under the watchful eye of Indonesian coach Mulyo Handono showed results as he exploded in Indonesia. The 25-year-old from Kerela also clinched his maiden National title, beating Srikanth in the final. He was in good form in the PBL 2018 but then developed foot warts, which saw him completely skip events at Malaysia and Indonesia and only turn up for appearance's sake at India Open. "It's not easy to recover from injuries, train and reach top 20. I am happy the way I come back after each injury and I might not have won a super series tournament but I always believe something big will happen," Prannoy said. Ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Prannoy said he is not thinking much about the event and put undue pressure on himself. "Pressure of a big event is different as there are expectations. So it is better I don't think about it and just go and play my natural game," he signed off.

We need to worry about lesser-known opponents at CWG: Prannoy

Defending champion PV Sindhu sailed into the quarterfinals but newly-crowned National champions Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy crashed out of the China Open Super Series Premier, in Fuzhou on Thursday.

World No 2 Sindhu emerged as the lone Indian survivor at the event after she made quick work of China&#39;s Han Yue 21-15 21-13, an opponent ranked at 104 in BWF ranking, in a lop- sided 40-minute women&#39;s singles match.

Olympic silver medallist Sindhu will clash with another Chinese qualifier Gao Fangjie on Friday.

It turned out to be a dismal day for Saina and Prannoy, who had clinched the National championship titles at Nagpur earlier this month.

While Saina lost 18-21 11-21 against her Japanese nemesis and fifth seed Akane Yamaguchi in the women&#39;s singles second round, world no. 11 Prannoy was stunned by 53rd ranked Cheuk Yiu Lee of Hong Kong 21-19 21-17 in the men&#39;s singles event.

For Saina, the match against Yamaguchi was always expected to be a tricky one considering her inferior head-to- head record against the Japanese.

Before the start of today&#39;s match, Saina trailed Yamaguchi one to three in head-to-head record with their three previous results going in the Japanese favour and the trend continued.

Saina, thus, suffered her fourth defeat - three of them in last one month - against Yamaguchi this year.

The London Olympic bronze-medallist, who won the title here in 2014, got off to a good start, taking a slender 11-9 lead but Yamaguchi fought back to pocket the first game 21-18.

Down by a game, Saina&#39;s game started to deteriorate. She lacked momentum in the second game and never looked in the mental frame to make a comeback, even as Yamaguchi comfortably took control of the proceedings.

The Japanese never looked in trouble after taking the first game and did not fall behind for a single moment in the second as she sealed the match with consummate ease in just 37 minutes.

Later in the day, world no 11 Prannoy went down fighting to less-fancied Lee in a second round clash that lasted 42 minutes.

The encounter started with both Prannoy and Lee exchanging quick early points before the Hong Kong shuttler raced to a two-point lead.

Prannoy tried to stage a comeback but Lee took an 11-9 lead at the interval.

After the break, Prannoy tried hard to shift the momentum but never really managed to achieve that as Lee took the first game 21-19.

Prannoy played his heart out and took a slender one-point lead (11-10) at the break in the second game.

But after the break, exhaustion seemed to have caught up Prannoy as the Indian struggled, enabling Lee to make a comeback and finally wrap up the contest 21-17.

World No 2 Sindhu emerged as the lone Indian survivor at the event after she made quick work of China's Han Yue 21-15 21-13, an opponent ranked at 104 in BWF ranking, in a lop- sided 40-minute women's singles match.

Defending champion PV Sindhu sailed into the quarterfinals but newly-crowned National champions Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy crashed out of the China Open Super Series Premier, in Fuzhou on Thursday. World No 2 Sindhu emerged as the lone Indian survivor at the event after she made quick work of China's Han Yue 21-15 21-13, an opponent ranked at 104 in BWF ranking, in a lop- sided 40-minute women's singles match. Olympic silver medallist Sindhu will clash with another Chinese qualifier Gao Fangjie on Friday. It turned out to be a dismal day for Saina and Prannoy, who had clinched the National championship titles at Nagpur earlier this month. While Saina lost 18-21 11-21 against her Japanese nemesis and fifth seed Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles second round, world no. 11 Prannoy was stunned by 53rd ranked Cheuk Yiu Lee of Hong Kong 21-19 21-17 in the men's singles event. For Saina, the match against Yamaguchi was always expected to be a tricky one considering her inferior head-to- head record against the Japanese. Before the start of today's match, Saina trailed Yamaguchi one to three in head-to-head record with their three previous results going in the Japanese favour and the trend continued. Saina, thus, suffered her fourth defeat - three of them in last one month - against Yamaguchi this year. The London Olympic bronze-medallist, who won the title here in 2014, got off to a good start, taking a slender 11-9 lead but Yamaguchi fought back to pocket the first game 21-18. Down by a game, Saina's game started to deteriorate. She lacked momentum in the second game and never looked in the mental frame to make a comeback, even as Yamaguchi comfortably took control of the proceedings. The Japanese never looked in trouble after taking the first game and did not fall behind for a single moment in the second as she sealed the match with consummate ease in just 37 minutes. Later in the day, world no 11 Prannoy went down fighting to less-fancied Lee in a second round clash that lasted 42 minutes. The encounter started with both Prannoy and Lee exchanging quick early points before the Hong Kong shuttler raced to a two-point lead. Prannoy tried to stage a comeback but Lee took an 11-9 lead at the interval. After the break, Prannoy tried hard to shift the momentum but never really managed to achieve that as Lee took the first game 21-19. Prannoy played his heart out and took a slender one-point lead (11-10) at the break in the second game. But after the break, exhaustion seemed to have caught up Prannoy as the Indian struggled, enabling Lee to make a comeback and finally wrap up the contest 21-17.

China Open: PV Sindhu enter quarters; Saina, Prannoy crash out

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Top shuttlers Prannoy, Praneeth blame BAI's administrative mess for missing Asian Badminton Championship

We need to worry about lesser-known opponents at CWG: Prannoy

China Open: PV Sindhu enter quarters; Saina, Prannoy crash out