PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy in live final action in Basel

HS Prannoy combines trick shot with class to enter Swiss Open final
“Last few months all Indian men are doing well after a long gap of time. There’s been lots of criticism of us and people were annoyed with us. But we’ve all stepped up,” he said. (File)
HS Prannoy made a tournament final for the first time in five years. He was at the 2017 US Open Sunday in what seems like eons ago, not knowing that the next one would take half a decade to fetch up. But like all of India’s earnest men’s singles players living in the shadow at times and luckless often, Prannoy never stopped loving badminton, a game he sculpts and savours and nurses and nurtures into fragments of perfection. Like the ‘Jerry shot’ that came off spectacularly when he beat Anthony Ginting 21-19, 19-21, 21-18 at the Swiss Open Super 300 final.

The Jerry shot was chrened ‘Jerry Special’ doubles special Pranav Jerry Chopra soon after the Saturday semis at Basel. That provenance might be one mighty chortle and a bit of a lark, but the trick shot came into being in one of the multi-shuttle practice sessions that India’s trainees singles and doubles at Hyderabad undertake, where they attempt to master a variation of deception with endless repetitions. Trick shots still need tasering crackles to work. (READ MORE)