India's lone entry into the year-ending BWF World Tour Finals 2022 in Bangkok, HS Prannoy, is keen on ending the year on a high.
The World No. 12, playing in his first year-end tournament, has been clubbed in Group A along with Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, Japan's Kodai Naraoka and China's Lu Guang Zu.
Prannoy, seeded third, will fancy his chances of making it to the semifinals from the group stage, which starts on Wednesday.
"I am really excited to start my BWF World Tour Finals campaign. It's my first time in the year-ending championships and I hope I can perform really well," said Prannoy. PV Sindhu is the lone Indian shuttler to win the prestigious season-ending championships in 2018. World No. 12 Prannoy has reinvented himself this year with some power-packed performances, which helped him regain his position at the Top-15 of the BWF World Rankings almost after four years. Prannoy helped the Indian team clinch their first Thomas Cup crown in May and also finished runner-up finish at the Swiss Open Super 300 and reached the last four stage of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 and Malaysia Masters Super 500 event. "We always believed in him, his game and his skills. He has performed significantly for a long time and it's time for him to win the title. His ability to defeat top players of the world, at any given day, makes him a strong contender to end up at the top of the podium at this year's BWF World Tour Finals," said Sanjay Mishra, General Secretary of the Badminton Association of India (BAI).
Shuttlers qualify for this USD $1,500,000 tournament by earning points based on their performances in BWF World Tour events in a calendar year and Top-8 shuttlers/pairs compete in the BWF World Tour Finals.
( With inputs from ANI )
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