HS Prannoy extracted the last ounce of energy from his reservoir to stun two-time defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in a thrilling 68-minute quarterfinal to ensure a medal for India in the World Badminton Championship here on Friday.
In the process, Prannoy has become the first Keralite to ensure a Worlds medal in badminton. While 10 Indians have stood on the podium in the BWF World Championships, a Malayali player had never come close, until now.
In a nail-biter, Prannoy once again showed his big-match temperament as he fought back from a game down to outwit the world No. 1 one Axelsen 13-21 21-15 21-16 in-front of his home crowd at the Roal Arena.
The 31-year-old from Kerala, who claimed the Malaysia Masters Super 500 and reached the finals at Australian Open Super 500 this year, thus continued India's dream run at the World Championships as the victory sealed the country's 14th medal in the event.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu won five of them, including a gold in 2019, and Saina Nehwal (silver and bronze) claimed two. Kidambi Srikanth (silver), Lakshya Sen (bronze), B Sai Praneeth (bronze) and Prakash Padukone (bronze) are the other medallists in singles.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and CHirag Shetty had won a bronze in the last edition, while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claimed a bronze back in 2011 in the women's doubles.
