Had multiple strategies against Lin Dan, reveals HS Prannoy

With B Sai Praneeth and Kidambi Srikanth having relatively easy draws in their initial rounds, the task for Prannoy was huge and one that saw the shuttler playing with a lot of expectations. The 27-year-old arrived at the tournament as an unseeded player after injuries took a toll on his rankings, but his game-play is hardly that of a struggling shuttler.

Defeating Dan 21-11, 13-21, 21-7 in a clash that lasted an hour and two minutes, Prannoy refused to delve into the meticulous details of preparations that he had, but revealed that he had more than one plan in place for the 35-year-old.

“I can’t talk about it very openly. Let’s keep it a secret (laughs),” said Prannoy from Basel, Switzerland, reported TOI.

“You can’t have one strategy when you go up against him (Lin Dan). You need to have multiple choices. I also had (those). So, I used those in a correct way and most importantly at the correct moments. “I was making him guess in every point. That’s the one plan I had,” Prannoy added.

Lin Dan, who has won the championship thrice and finished twice a runner-up, wasn’t a pushover even though age has taken a toll on his game. After losing the first game 11-21, the Chinese shuttler won the second one 21-13 with relative ease, but ran out of breath eventually. And Prannoy revealed that he was also playing mind games with his opponent

“This was my third win against him. I have kept on changing my strategies against him. I did (that) in this match too. If you watch the footage of the match, you will hardly see me making eye-contact with him,” the 27-year-old said.

The decider looked pretty straight-forward with Prannoy doing everything right, but the shuttler was quick to point out that it looked that way because his plan was put into place. “The third game looked easier but it was full of planning and strategies. The first eleven (points) were too crucial. I wanted to take the lead in the first half of the third game,” Prannoy said.

“In such a big competition, it is very important to get the start right. You need to sit and plan ahead of a big tournament and that too when you are up against a big player like Lin Dan. Honestly, the draw was really tough,” he added.