Why HS Prannoy thinks India’s Thomas Cup bronze deserves applause, not silence

The devil is on social media, the details are on the ranking charts, and the drop-down recent results. “The bronze was not easy to win,” a calm HS Prannoy told a SAI-facilitated interaction, on his return two days ago. “India was seeded 8th, and we were never contenders this time,” he added. “We really wanted to prove (we still could win),” he would say.

Punching above weight

The bronze was worthy because India went past four other teams, ranked ahead of them, to stand on the podium.

A 2022 title triumph does not imply that India will be perennially favourites to win the Thomas Cup every time. But the effect of that gold will linger for those who made history for India, with not even one Olympic medallist in their ranks. Prannoy stresses that the 2022 team gold turned their careers. He won medals at World Championships, Asian Games and Asian Mixed teams the following year.

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Badminton is extremely competitive in Asia, with 7 teams on an even keel (Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, India) just under China. Now add the two European semifinalists. That’s 10 solid teams, with varied strengths in singles and doubles, capable of reaching finals. A bronze-winning encore, where Canada’s singles was no walk in the park, and with China in the same group, would count as an achievement if you understood badminton.

In some ways, the 3-0 win over Taiwan started with the narrow 2-3 group tie loss to China, where Prannoy (ranked No 34) defeated Lu Guangzu (who was World No 10 till last July). India had lost the tie 1-3 by then, but Prannoy knew the importance of stubbornly chipping away at Chinese scalps.

“The win against Lu Guangzu was important for the team. It was important to get the win despite the tie loss to get a good mindset for everyone, so I pushed hard in the first set,” he says. Defiant wins linger for future opponents.

Lakshya’s absence

Sen’s injury (try hammering your elbow hard onto a wooden table; that was the shock that reverberated on his face, though he still beat Chou Tien Chen, enduring it), ripped into India’s semifinal hopes. “Lakshya not being there made the biggest difference. Rankings matter. He had pulled off a win against Chou and had the confidence. He could’ve beaten Christo Popov, and Ayush could’ve beaten Alex Lanier,” Prannoy calculates. “It was a matter of one win. Had it gone to 4th, (bringing doubles into the frame). It was unfortunate. But you have to respect injury,” he said.

Team championships like the Thomas Cup put players, accustomed to individual play, under huge pressure. The self-guilt for merely getting injured can send you seeking a psychiatrist, in a deep funk.

“As a player, your match decides what’s gonna happen to rest of the team, including coaches and support staff. Against Denmark in 2022 quarters, I injured my ankle badly. But I told myself, this is your only moment to take India into the semis. Just because of you, the team should not suffer. Many players get stuck (freeze) just thinking, ‘Will fans blame me?’ We all thrive in pressure matches, that’s playing badminton at the highest level,” he says, having overcome those crucial 2-2 fifth match rubbers often enough, to stoically keep a straight face, at the ‘choker’ hurls by fans.

Prannoy rues that the name ‘Thomas Cup’ isn’t self-explanatory in India. “It’s unfortunate it’s called the Thomas Cup and not the World Cup. After winning once, if recognition doesn’t come, then you wonder ‘What is the value of doing this?’ We play individual careers 99% of our lives, but for three and a half weeks, it’s only team,” he says. He echoes Satwik’s ‘no one cares’ post: “If you are not celebrating a gold medal, then it’s tough to do this again and again, and seek motivation and hard to convince young players,” he says.

If anything, Satwik’s reaction was four years too late. Prannoy says the 2022 gold was the happiest moment of his life. This is not HS Prannoy living on past laurels. This was India refusing to move on, to acknowledge a hard-earned bronze medal.