'Worked On Strength During Off-Season': Shuttler HS Prannoy Ahead Of India Open

HS Prannoy, who secured a maiden bronze medal at the Asian Games and World Championships in 2023, suffered a loss to Denmark's Anders Antonsen in the opening round of the Malaysia Super

Olympic qualification is on the horizon but star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy is not looking too far ahead and focusing on the next couple of months in his bid to get into 'tournament mode' after a productive off-season. The 31-year-old Indian, who secured a maiden bronze medal at the Asian Games and World Championships in 2023, suffered a loss to Denmark's Anders Antonsen in the opening round of the Malaysia Super 1000 last week in Kuala Lumpur.

"You can't be disappointed with a couple of losses when you are playing 19-20 tournaments in a year. There is no time to sulk. I had a bad Malaysia Open but someone like Anders going on to win the tournament shows the competition," he said on the eve of the India Open Super 500 starting in New Delhi on Tuesday.

"So I am not worried. A lot of good things happened in 2023, I mean to have both medals in a month is something I wouldn't have thought of in my dreams. But a lot of work is left.

"Competition is so hard in men's singles, to perform every single week is tough but that is what I am trying to improve, obviously target is to win big tournaments consistently." Talking about his training sessions during the off-season, Prannoy said: "The focus was mainly on strength because we don't get time to push the strength with so many tournaments happening.

"December was a month where I could go back to basic and start again from scratch and do a lot of strength-training. It might take a little time to get into that tournament mode.