HS Prannoy secures historic medal for India as he storms into World Championships semis

HS Prannoy earned a history medal for India with a resolute come-from-behind semifinal victory over World No 1 Viktor Axelsen at the BWF World Championships in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Prannoy, who won 13-21, 21-15, 21-16 to assure India of a bronze medal, will next play third seed third-seed Kunlavut Vitridsarn on Saturday for a place in the finals.

"O' yes! I finally have a worlds medal," said Prannoy after the match.

“When I got in I realised how packed the stadium was. But it was fun out there. We had close matches in recent times, and to win is always tough.

:You might come close, but a win is a win. I couldn’t digest the Japan Open loss but God had something better for me, probably to give me a World Championships medal," he added.

"A lot of thinking I was going on inside but I was not aware what was happening around. I was pretty much in my zone after the second game."

Viktor Axelsen took the defeat in his stride and said: “I didn’t perform the way I wanted to, but Prannoy played really well.

:But I’m not satisfied with my performance. That’s how it is, that’s the game. My job now is to learn from this defeat. It’s part of being an athlete. It’s not the last time I’m going to lose.”

It was the 14th medal for India in the BWF World Championships and it came against the reigning World and Olympic champion Akelsen.

On Thursday Prannoy battled into the quarterfinals following a 69-minute marathon encounter against Singapore's Loh Kean Yew, the world No 7 and 2001 champion, 21-18, 15-21, 21-19.

Delhi-born Prannoy, who was a quarterfinalist at the 2022 BWF World Championships. Is a product of the famous Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.

However, the Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out in the quarterfinals on Friday.

defeating the world number 10 pair of Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia in their round of 16 match.