Badminton star HS Prannoy today said that the biggest achievements of his career had come after he turned 30.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the District-level Super 100 Ranking Badminton Tournament in Pune, Prannoy said, “I knew that if you have to do something big in the sport, then you have to stay in the sport. And probably my biggest achievements came a couple of years back when I was post-30.”
Prannoy, who is currently 33, won the Bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Games and at the 2023 BWF World Championships in Men’s singles. He also played a key role in India’s gold medal win at the 2022 Thomas Cup. Recently, he reached the Round of 16 at the Hong Kong Open where he lost to Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen.
Prannoy said that he was looking to play a couple of years more before retiring. Talking about maintaining a level of fitness at his age, he remarked, “It is really difficult to be in very good shape considering badminton is such a fast sport. I think it is probably one of the sports where you need the highest endurance. So to be in a shape where you are injury free and plus you are playing at that high level, you have to be really planning your entire calendar.”
He added, “Probably in the last 3-4 years, I am not able to do as much as I used to do from the training side. I have to be really brilliant in managing my body, the recovery sessions. I think more than training, it is on how fresh I am for the matches. How well am I managing all the niggles and pains and how I am not letting that go to a bigger issue. When you are 25-26, you keep pushing that valve but post 30-31, you have to be very brilliant in managing that. You need to push certain sessions but you need to back off as well. That is probably why you don’t see a lot of players post 28-29, because they don’t know how to manage that.”
Prannoy highlighted the importance of having patience and working hard in a sport like badminton. He said, “There have been players who have had exceptional starts to their careers but have faded off very quickly. I have had very dramatic graphs in my career, it has gone up and down, but I think as an athlete that’s what happens. There are only very few, probably only 5 players you can count and say that their graph has always been up. I would say they are legends. It’s just their work ethic and the way they could manage their body was just unbelievable. So probably I am not there and I am just somewhere in the middle, but I just wouldn’t have any regrets about it.”
The District-level Super 100 Ranking Badminton Tournament, organized by the Rotary Club of Pimple Saudagar in association with the Rama Group. The tournament was held at ACE Arena Sportsland in Chinchwad and Gravity in Punawale. Raavi Kadam, Mausam Manepatil, Shauryteja Pawar, Aarussh Saple, Avaneesh Bangar won double crowns at the tournament. In the Boys U17 finals, unseeded Eshaan Lagu upset top seeded Anay Ekbote 16-14, 15-07 to claim the title, while third seeded Safa Shaikh claimed the Girls under U17 title.
Soham Shah is a Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Pune. A journalism graduate with a background in fact-checking, he brings a meticulous and research-oriented approach to his current reporting.
Professional Background
Role: Correspondent coverig education and city affairs in Pune.
Specialization: His primary beat is education, but he also maintains a strong focus on civic issues, public health, human rights, and state politics.
Key Strength: Soham focuses on data-driven reporting on school and college education, government reports, and public infrastructure.
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
His late 2025 work highlights a transition from education-centric reporting to hard-hitting investigative and human-rights stories:
1. Investigations & Governance
"Express Impact: Mother's name now a must to download birth certificate from PMC site" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on a significant policy change by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) following his earlier reports on gender inclusivity in administrative documents.
"44-Acre Mahar Land Controversy: In June, Pune official sought land eviction at Pawar son firm behest" (Nov 9, 2025): An investigative piece on real estate irregularities involving high-profile political families.
2. Education & Campus Life
Faculty crisis at SPPU hits research, admin work: 62% of govt-sanctioned posts vacant, over 75% in many depts (Sept 12, 2025): An investigative piece on professor vacancies at Savitribai Phule Pune University.
"Maharashtra’s controversial third language policy: Why National Curriculum Framework recommends a third language from Class 6" (July 2): This detailed piece unpacks reasons behind why the state's move to introduce a third language from class 1 was controversial.
"Decline in number of schools, teachers in Maharashtra but student enrolment up: Report" (Jan 2025): Analyzing discrepancies in the state's education data despite rising student numbers.
3. Human Rights & Social Issues
"Aanchal Mamidawar was brave after her family killed her boyfriend" (Dec 17, 2025): A deeply personal and hard-hitting opinion piece/column on the "crime of love" and honor killings in modern India.
"'People disrespect the disabled': Meet the man who has become face of racist attacks on Indians" (Nov 29, 2025): A profile of a Pune resident with severe physical deformities who became the target of global online harassment, highlighting issues of disability and cyber-bullying.
Signature Style
Soham is known for his civil-liberties lens. His reporting frequently champions the rights of the marginalized—whether it's students fighting for campus democracy, victims of regressive social practices, or residents struggling with crumbling urban infrastructure (as seen in his "Breathless Pune" contributions). He is adept at linking hyper-local Pune issues to larger national conversations about law and liberty.
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