Beyond Bronze: What Drives Badminton Player H.S Prannoy To Keep Rising
At 32, H.S Prannoy is still rising. Inside the mindset, grind and fire keep him chasing greatness
H.S Prannoy, the giant killer, is one of the top Indian badminton players, who has made a career out of taking down higher-ranked opponents on the world stage. A World Championship bronze medalist, recipient of Arjuna Awards in 2022 and Thomas Cup is a consistent threat on the BWF tour, since 2022.
Prannoy has been one of the most successful Indian badminton players and has upstaged two-time Olympic gold medallist Viktor Axelsen in the quarterfinals, en route to the World Championships bronze medal at Copenhagen 2024.
At the Asian Games 2023, Prannoy pipped Japanese shuttler Kodai Naraoka for the bronze medal. He was also a part of the Indian men’s badminton team that bagged silver in Hangzhou and won the gold medal at the Thomas Cup in 2022.
But his journey hasn’t been without unforeseen difficulties- fitness. He was diagnosed with a gastroesophageal reflux disease (a digestive ailment in which stomach acid or bile irritates the food pipe lining) during the 2018 World Championships, which marred his training ever since. But things became worse when he tested positive for Covid-19 in November 2020 and has been struggling for peak form.
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As he enters the heart of the 2025 season with big goals in sight, Esquire India, sits down with the athlete who has been training under Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad and has recently joined Reliance Foundation to understand the inner engine that keeps him going and fitness regimen.
Grind isn’t glamourous, it’s quiet, consistent and most of the times away from spotlight, even social media, for Prannoy. “I think most of the days are quiet days. Whenever I am in training in Hyderabad, I am in a zone where I love being in that kind if peace…the only worry is how well I am prepared for the session and how well I will recover for the second session.”
That bit of structured, meditative, uninterrupted focus is what helps the 32-year-old stay hungry for more. It is not the optics or the records, he clarifies, but that feeling of satisfaction he gravitates towards along with the “target to play the big final” as “major events are always going to be the difference in one’s career. You always want to peak at the biggest,” he says.
But more than victory, “I think it’s pure happiness-anything which gives you happiness you are going to do more of it and often”.
Over time, the Indian Men's Single Badminton player has come to rely on the quiet parts of training- the gym, the strength work, the mental reset, a real backbone of his edge as “the gym sessions would be much more quieter, where you’re little bit more into the zone and you have the leverage to do it a little bit more peacefully”.
So, what’s the most underrated in his training, the Badminton player has a couple of things to share. One is a lot of focus on the mental game. “Not just as a sportsperson, but how you manage your expectations, how you manage your well-being on a day-to-day life. That’s very important and probably started doing that a few years back and has helped me quiet a bit.”
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With this Prannoy also pairs physical discipline. “I think strength training, mainly consistency in the strength training, has incredibly changed the way I’ve started playing,” he shares.
“Probably that’s very underrated. Nobody sees it as so important. Nor do you feel that. But I think I have been very consistent with that, and probably that’s what kind of keeps me going also.” At the end of the day, like any sportsperson, Prannoy’s edge comes from recovery as it helps him return to the grind.
“Generally, I’m more of a massage guy. Not into cold (therapy) because I feel a little stiff the next day post cold plunges. But anything hot works for me—the sauna, the steam. So, during tournaments I stick to it. You really want to be in a good space where you’re enjoying this entire process of grinding and training and playing tournaments,” says the BWF Bronze winner.
It is all about a clear mind, a ready body, a life built around the joy of doing what brings him happiness- badminton.