Epic Australian Open Dogfight Will Make Prannoy Stronger It was 10pm in Sydney when I got HS Prannoy on the line. Even before I could say something, I heard him laugh. No words. I could sense that he was very well aware of the reason behind the call, and saw the irony behind it. He was out for dinner with the team, and when I said it was one of those days in sport, which we will never be able to get our heads around, Prannoy found his voice. “Thank you,” he said. “It means much.” And I could hear him laugh again. He was still in pain, and clearly hadn’t come to terms with it. He had played his heart out and, at 19-14 in the decider, could smell the title. And then it all went south, including a 71-stroke rally which saw both gladiators lying flat on the court. Neither deserved to lose. The fightback from Weng Hongyang, his Chinese opponent, was all about grit and determination, and the doggedness from Prannoy was further evidence of how good he is at the moment. “If you can play for three consecutive weeks with this level of intensity, there is clearly something right that you are doing,” said Pullela Gopichand. “It speaks of an excellent work ethic.” Gopi was doing all he could to keep things in perspective. “In sport, it evens out. Better now than at the World Championships or the Asian Games.” No, it is not about luck. It is just sport. The beauty and cruelty of sport all rolled into one. Agony for Prannoy and ecstasy for Weng. Both exhausted after a marathon with nothing left in the tank. Had Prannoy made it to 20 with a two or three-point lead, it would have been match over. But then, that’s alternative history. That’s reel. Sport is all about the real. Raw and painful. And the reality is that Prannoy lost his five-point lead and lost the decider 20-22. When I said to him that he would only emerge stronger, I could sense he knew I was trying to make him feel better. On a day like this, there was nothing that one could say to Prannoy that could make him feel good. It is just not possible, and that’s why sport is what it is. Raw emotion that can make or break you. It teaches you how to lose. And emerge stronger. Prannoy will surely come out stronger from what happened today. A better player and a better individual. “He now knows he can play these highly physical matches all week, and his body will hold up,” said Gopi. “One match here or there isn’t the issue. You should look at the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is that HS Prannoy is right up there with the best. He can challenge anyone in the world and in bigger tournaments, that’s what you want your best players to do.” That’s the big picture. The Australian Open fight will define Prannoy and take him higher. It is not about the defeat. Rather, it is about the fight. The effort and the struggle. If the process is right, which in the case, there is nothing that can stop Prannoy in the future. He knows it, and Gopi knows it too. Maybe the laughter did mean something after all.
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EXCLUSIVE: “Soon after the semi-final, my heart wanted to race to India and meet my parents and my wife and child with the medal now assured,” said Harvinder Singh, India’s ace #Paralympic archer, after his epochal gold in Paris. His coach Gaurav Sharma says he was more nervous and his feet were trembling but Harvinder was calm! Fascinating. Rahul Todi Shrachi Group Shrachi Sports RevSportz Sharmistha Gooptu
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Harvinder Singh EXCLUSIVE With medal assured, I wanted to run to India and my family: Harvinder Singh after historic archery gold at Paralympics “Soon after the semi-final, my heart wanted to race to India and meet my parents and my wife and child with the medal now assured,” said Harvinder Singh, India’s ace Paralympic archer, after his epochal gold in Paris. “The moment the semi-final was over and I had won, there was a sense of relief,” said Harvinder Singh, moments after he had won the recurve gold medal in archery at the Paralympics. “The medal was assured, and it was one better than Tokyo. My heart was racing, and wanted to run away to India to my mother and father, wife and child. I wanted to speak to them and celebrate. But my mind was saying to me that the job isn’t done yet. I had come this far and needed to make it count. I did not switch my phone on and just calmed myself down.” As he was saying this, the sky behind him was all golden. It was God’s way of showing her love for India’s golden boy. With the Eiffel Tower in the background, Harvinder was standing tall. The tricolour had just gone up for him and we had heard the national anthem. The archery curse, if we may call it as such, had finally ended. What was it like ahead of the last set, I asked him. How was it possible to hit those 10s under intense pressure? “Pressure toh tha [Pressure was there],” he said. “But I was able to control it to a very large extent and did not let my mind get too far ahead. That’s where the final set was won. You need to reign in your emotions and get the job done. You don’t often get into a gold-medal position in archery and when you do, you can’t leave things to chance.” His coach Gourav Sharma put it in perspective as to how difficult it was. “My feet were trembling. I don’t know how he kept calm and at one point was telling me not to get tense”. Harvinder, for the record, was the first Indian to win a bronze medal in archery in Tokyo. And for the doctoral student in economics, it is a rule never to celebrate a win or a loss in a manner which can be considered excessive. “Khushi ya gham, kuch bhi zyada nahi honi chahiye [Happiness or sadness, neither should be too much],” he told me. “I never celebrate a win too much and nor do I mourn a loss too much. However, I have to tell you that I am feeling very happy today with the gold and this could be an exception!” Finally, what was it like to shoot in front of a packed stadium at Les Invalides? In Tokyo, he had shot in an empty stadium with Covid-19 still raging. This time round, however, there was not one seat empty at the venue. “I have never shot in front of so many people and I was nervous to start,” said Harvinder. “If you see my first match, I wasn’t shooting well and was lucky. Once I won, things got better and only then did I start to enjoy the atmosphere. There were a few Indian supporters and I could see the tricolour in the stands. It always gets the best out of you.”
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Lead Project Manager at Ge Power Vernova Nexus Controls ( Oil & Gas/Power/Process) Ex-Baker Hughes Ex-Emerson Gurugram India /Indian Institute of Foreign Trade MBA New Delhi
1yPrivilege to be in friend list of Pranoy & how calmly he listen to me during visit at Gopi Sir academy decade back ! I m seeing legend to be made in process All best my friend