Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar, born on July 17, 1992, is an Indian badminton player. He was born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He represents India at the international level in both singles and doubles.
His father Sunil Kumar is a former badminton player who won the All India Air Force Badminton Championship, while his mother Haseena is a homemaker. Prannoy began playing badminton at the age of ten.
Prannoy’s badminton talent was spotted by national coach Pullela Gopichand and joined the Gopichand Badminton Academy where he received his first professional training from a former Indian badminton stalwart. Gopichand played a very crucial role in developing his game and helped him to re-establish himself.
He competed in and won gold in Junior and Senior National tournaments before making his international debut in 2010.
Prannoy rose to popularity following his silver medal performance in the Boys’ singles event at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. In 2011, he won another silver medal, after losing to compatriot Sourabh Varma. After that, he had an almost two-year break from the game to heal from his injury. He lost to Sourabh Verma in the final of the Tata International Open India International in 2013.
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He won two National Ranking Championships in 2014: the Indian Open All India Senior Badminton Ranking Tournament in Kerala and the V.V. Natu Memorial All India Senior Badminton Ranking Tournament in Pune. He made the semi-finals of three Grand Prix Gold events that year: the India Open, the Bitburger Open in Germany, and the Macau Open.
Prannoy earned Gold and Silver medals in Men’s Team and Men’s Singles at the South Asian Games in Guwahati in 2016, and then a Bronze medal in Men’s Team at the Badminton Asia Team Championships the following year.
Prannoy was selected by Mumbai Rockets for two seasons in the Premier Badminton League in 2016. During the 2017 PBL season, he went undefeated all the way through. Ahmedabad Smash Masters selected him for the 2018 season, while Delhi Dashers selected him for the 2019 PBL season.
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He first made an impression on the world stage when he won Silver at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore. Later the same year, in Guadalajara, Mexico, he won the bronze medal in Boys’ singles at the World Junior Badminton Championships.
Prannoy made his first Grand Prix Gold final at the Vietnam Open in 2014, being runner-up against Indonesia’s Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka. He won his first Grand Prix Gold championship in the Indonesia Open that year, defeating tournament favourite Firman Abdul Kohlik.
Prannoy stunned World No. 2, Viktor Axelsen, in the pre-quarters of the 2015 India Super Series, giving him one of the finest performances of his career. He won his second Grand Prix Gold championship in the Swiss Open the following year, defeating Germany’s Marc Zwiebler.
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Prannoy defeated compatriot Parupalli Kashyap to become the first Indian badminton player to win the US Open Badminton Championships in 2017. He earned the Gold medal in the Mixed team event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. He earned the bronze medal in Men’s Singles at the Asian Badminton Championships two weeks later after losing to Chen Long of China.
He won a bronze medal in the Men’s Team event at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Manila, Philippines, in 2020.
Prannoy wants to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and he wants to break into the Top-16.
With straight-game victories in men’s singles categories, Prannoy H.S raced into the semifinals of the Swiss Open badminton tournament 2022.
