French Super Serie: Prannoy grounds Super Dan
P Sunil Kumar retired after serving in the Air Force for 20 years as an engine technician and then took up a similar job at the ISRO. He loved watching those cutting edge beasts take flight, and stay airborne. He loved that he contributed in making them fly.
For recreation, he played badminton. But Thiruvananthapuram was hardly a place where his young son HS Prannoy — who he coaxed to start playing — could make the shuttle fly regularly or spend hours training consistently. It annoyed him that there were very few clubs with affordable fees for his son, whom he was determined to turn into a shuttler. These facilities existed in Kochi which had produced a dozen-odd doubles internationals but Thiruvananthapuram was where Prannoy would have to make do. Sunil wanted his teenaged son to play singles and he coached the lad himself in the state capital after work.
“It’s been tough. No proper coaching facility for me back home, and just so many problems to start out with initially,” the 23-year-old well-built shuttler, now World No 16, recalls speaking on a cold Parisian evening. “But to end up beating Lin Dan – it’s all worth it today, I think,” he laughs.
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Playing the first round of the French Super Series in dreamy Paris, Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar scalped the biggest name of his career, beating Chinese legend Lin Dan 14-21, 21-11, 21-17 in an hour and 10 minutes. The twice Olympic champion is on the wane, and has a few first round exits this last one year. But what would make this victory memorable is just how ferociously Prannoy fought in the closing stages of the match against a player known as one of the mentally strongest on the circuit.
Losing the first game didn’t agitate the young player who first came to notice as a silver medallist at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Fully aware that he had been playing well and with the self belief that he could score one over the former five-time World champion, Prannoy would plod on in the battle despite Super Dan showing his usual energy and verve in the opener.
“From the second game, I was more patient and started hitting more winners,” he would say. What court-side coach Arvind Bhat recalls is the stupendous length shots that Prannoy would employ in the second, hitting deep right upto the lines — and consistently. “Prannoy really worked on Lin Dan’s fitness, it’s not easy to make Lin Dan work so much,” Bhat would say.
What was on show was how the Indian would systematically wear the Chinese down — make him bend a lot, twist and turn and tire out the champ, who at 32 has shown ageing limbs ever since K Srikanth punched holes in his defense to win the China Open crown last season to announce his arrival. Srikanth would struggle against the next generation Chinese Tian Houwei 21-15, 13-21, 21-11 earlier, but Dan held enough arsenal for the final flinging of arms – the last burst that is still lethal.
Prannoy would keep the shuttle low, and test creaking joints — even if they were joints of the celebrated Lin Dan.
After Dan seemed to have taken a breather in the second – or he was progressively tiring, tough to tell — Prannoy would work up a stunning 7-0 lead and at the changeover was still ahead 12-7.
Dan would signal a second wind picking five straight points to go from 10-14 down to leading 15-14. Typically, younger players, nervous players and essentially inexperienced players falter at this stage facing Super Dan. It’s a surge that is difficult to stem, and usually signals a reversal, unless the opponent is digging his heels for a scrap. Prannoy would do just that.
His length strokes would continue to fetch him points, and a refreshing end-burst would stun the legend. “I’ve lost countless close matches,” he would say later. There was a long rally at 14-14 that would especially get singed on his mind. “I lost the point but it was brilliant to play that against Lin Dan. It gave me confidence,” he added. Lin Dan’s a masterclass in finishing, Bhat stresses, but what he saw Prannoy do brought the house down. “The end burst was brilliant.”
Stay calm, carries on
Prannoy recalls staying calm. Settling into a silence that showed him absolute clarity despite being up against the king of finishes. “The end was toughest because he raised his game and it was getting hard, but I kept cool,” he said. The winner was sealed without a fuss, even making coach P Gopichand gush. “The finish was good especially because it came against Dan who has a great record in the endgame.”
The coach would laud his ward for the effort, acknowledging the long journey of struggles he’s endured. “It’s great for Prannoy’s morale. He has been playing well and working hard so It’s a very happy and positive result for us.”
Gopichand first spotted Prannoy at a junior ranking meet in Kochi and on seeing his potential, accepted him into the academy in 2009. That was a few years after Sunil Kumar had exhausted his knowledge as father-cum-coach. “I had a friend in Singapore who would bring me CDs of games played by Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei. That was all I could do for my son at this isolated location in Thiruvananthapuram before he went to Hyderabad,” the father recalls.
“I think Gopi Sir saw him as hard working and dedicated,” he says. There would be the spark wins against Taufik Hidayat and then a stunning 3-0 record against World No 2 Jan O Jorgensen apart from the Indonesian Open GP title. But beating Lin Dan will be a day to cherish. Prannoy’s father meantime can watch his biggest dream take off.
