"Beating Viktor Axelsen for medal spot was really satisfying": HS Prannoy on defeating World No. 1 in BWF World Championships

New Delhi [India], August 28 (ANI): After winning a bronze medal at the BWF World Championship, India's ace badminton player HS Prannoy opened up on how he defeated World No.1 and defending champion Viktor Axelsen in the quarterfinals for a medal spot. 
World No. 7 Prannoy assured a bronze medal for India by beating the home favourite Axelsen in three games 21-13, 15-21, 16-21. Prannoy lost to eventual champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-18, 13-21, 14-21 in the semifinals. 
"I definitely felt really happy because it was not an easy draw for me to get a medal out there. Starting from the first round, it was a tough draw and I had to dig deep and then, the quarterfinals was with Axelsen. To beat him and to actually get to a medal spot was really satisfying," Prannoy told JioCinema. 
Prannoy said he is 'satisfied' with winning bronze at BWF World Championships despite being 15-20% down on fitness. 
"Yes, there was fatigue, definitely. And it sort of started to show up after the second game. At the top level, if you have to win these tournaments, you have to be physically a little bit better because all the other players are much, much younger. All of them are around 22-23. So, they are going to recover faster and come strong at you. So that's one thing that probably kind of changed things. I was probably a good 15-20% down on fitness," Prannoy added. 
Prannoy is confident ahead of the Paris Olympics, set to be played in 2024. India's star shuttler's recent accomplishments have also elevated him to the status of one of India's top medal prospects in men's singles. Even though he is aware of the strain from expectations, he is still committed to becoming better and doing his best.
"I think the important thing would be to plan the tournaments and schedule correctly. There are going to be a lot of tournaments and you can’t play in all of them because the quality of your game just goes down if you are continuously on tour. So, it's really important to get back to training as soon as possible, get as much of training sessions in Hyderabad. That's the only way to kind of keep your consistency level up and kind of pick and choose which tournament you want to play and try to go deep in that tournament," said India's star shuttler. (ANI)