China Open 2025: Frustration and learnings on HS Prannoy’s comeback trail

The China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament was another pitstop in HS Prannoy’s comeback trail this year. And he showed plenty of heart this week at Changzhou.

On Tuesday, he saved five match points in what was a stunning 8-21, 21-16, 23-21 victory against Koki Watanabe, the 18th-ranked Japanese.

But his run was cut short on Thursday in the second round by Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, who prevailed in three games, 21-18, 15-21, 8-21.

Mixed reactions

After the game, Prannoy displayed mixed reactions.

“I had not really trained much before this week, considering that it’s a decent performance. But really frustrated that I probably could’ve played a little better in the third set today. I think it just went out in a whisker, probably should’ve made it a little bit lengthier than what happened,” he said, in an interaction with the media after the game.

Soon thereafter, he was asked about his endurance in the third game.

“Today I didn’t feel it was physical, probably because the way it kind of went off, we hardly had one or two rallies out there. To kind of play against high-quality opponents like this is very important, then you know what kind of pressure is going to come in the third game, first half kind of scenario,” he responded.

Prannoy’s response is reflective of his current situation this year. 2024 was a year of setbacks: the resurfacing of a gastrointestinal disorder and then just before the Paris Olympics, chikungunya impacted his momentum.

And this year, Prannoy is gradually working his way back into the scheme of things. That said, the going has been anything but easy.

Since the Malaysia Open in the second week of January, Prannoy has played ten tournaments and has been unable to get past the round of 16.

Not an easy trail

At the 33-years of age, he recognises that competition is not going to get any easier.

"This point in my career, every win matters. I'm happy to be back on tour. Small breaks happened here and there. The level of playing has gone really high, and winning each round is getting tougher day by day," Prannoy had told the broadcasters after his remarkable first-round victory over Watanabe on Tuesday.

That said, it is not always the physicality that might knock Prannoy down. For instance, on Thursday, the match against Chou Tien Chen was tactical in nature.

“Probably the second game was crucial there. I was finding it difficult to play the third game. I was not finding the back length; just felt it was too tight in the net game as well, and he was pushing the third game first half from the net, so I think credit to him; he put the pressure. In the second game, probably, I should have kept it a bit more tighter and a bit more longer but that patch of 5 points from 12-all made a big difference,” he said.

While the round of 16 continues to prove to be a hurdle, the good news for HS Prannoy is that he is back on the circuit, competing and pushing the top-ranked players around. And those are signals good enough to suggest that in time, the 33-year-old could well be back to his best in the days to come.