India's badminton star HS Prannoy has ruled himself out of the upcoming tournaments. Prannoy has confirmed the development with a post on X (formerly Twitter) stating that chikungunya has taken a toll on his body and that he has withdrawn his name from the next few badminton competitions. For the unversed, Super 500 Korea Open, Super 300 Taipei Open, Super 500 Hong Kong Open, Super 1000 China Open and Super 300 Macau Open are the next immediate tournaments scheduled to be played in September 2024.
Prannoy has at least withdrawn from these tournaments it seems for now and has vowed to come back stronger. He currently wants to focus only on his recovery. "Unfortunately, the battle with Chikungunya has taken a toll on my body, leaving me with persistent pains that make it impossible to compete at my best.
"After careful consideration with my team, I've decided to withdraw from some of the upcoming tournaments to focus on recovery. Thank you for your understanding and support during this challenging time. I’ll be back stronger," Prannoy wrote in his tweet.
Prannoy was also part of the Indian badminton contingent at the Paris Olympics that returned without a medal for the first time since 2012. He lost to his compatriot Lakshya Sen in the round of 16, 12-21 and 6-21 in straight sets, at the Games. It was the first time in history that two Indian players were up against each other at the Olympics.
For the unversed, Prannoy was hit with chikungunya even before the Olympic Games but the man put his body on the line to make it to the pre-quarters only to face Lakshya Sen in the form of his life. He will now be keen on gaining his fitness and returning to the court better than ever.
