Prannoy: 'I’m not ready to give up the torch' after missing World Championships in New Delhi

H.S. Prannoy said in Hyderabad on August 11, 2026 that he is not ready to “give up the torch” and will keep competing for another year or two after failing to qualify for the World Championships in New Delhi next week, he told The Hindu.

Prannoy, 34, acknowledged that the last two years have been difficult and that he “wasn’t at my best in the last few months and didn’t qualify.” For more than a decade he has been a persistent presence in Indian badminton while a new generation, led at these World Championships by Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty, has assumed the primary responsibility for the country on the global stage.

On accepting the current phase of his career, Prannoy was candid about perspective and memory: “The problem with us players is that we forget what we did in the last 15 years and only think about what’s coming next. You never really appreciate what happened before. I don’t even remember how many World championships I’ve played! At this point, it’s important to acknowledge that we did what we could, and this year I couldn’t; I wasn’t at my best in the last few months and didn’t qualify. And that’s okay.” He added, “I would’ve loved to play in New Delhi next week.”

Prannoy framed the shift to younger players as both natural and necessary, saying: “The next generation does have to take over eventually. Someone like me, at the age of 34 or 35, shouldn’t still be ahead of a lot of the younger players. Honestly, they should beat me at this age, they’re faster than me. I keep telling them this so that I also stay on my toes in training.” He said that the internal competition helps him maintain standards in practice.

Despite acknowledging the transition, Prannoy set out a clear short-term objective: “I still feel that over the next two years I’ll put in everything to get back to the top 10. So it’s something where you keep telling the youngsters it’s not good enough yet, but you also keep checking whether they’re arriving at the right rankings at the right time. I’m not ready to give up the torch because deep down, if the body allows it, I’ll still be there and I’m not going to stop on an easy note.”

He referenced fellow veteran K. Srikanth when underlining motivation drawn from missing the event: “This tournament is a reminder of how much someone like K. Srikanth and I wanted to play there but couldn’t, and I’m sure it’ll push us both for the next six months, hoping that at the next big event we can be back at the top.”

Prannoy said he will continue to work toward regaining form and higher rankings over the coming months, aiming to return to the top 10 within the next two years and to contend again at major events; he added that if it does not work out he would be “completely okay with that.”