HS Prannoy: “Will apply for Arjuna myself”


HS Prannoy: “Will apply for Arjuna myself”

HS

HS Prannoy now intends to apply for the Arjuna award by himself. Last week, he lashed out at the BAI after not being recommended for the prestigious Arjuna Award. He expressed in his tweets that his performances have been overlooked.

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BAI responded that the selection of players also takes into consideration behaviour and attitude while representing the country, among many other factors.

“In this case, HS Prannoy was not considered for the award on disciplinary grounds and some of the key instances where his behaviour was questionable “, an official said. In response to Prannoy’s tweets, reportedly and  unnamed BAI official was quoted as saying in a Times of India report that Prannoy and Srikanth had hurt India’s chances in the semi-finals of the Badminton Asia Team Championship in February. The players had left the tournament before the semi-finals to prepare for Barcelona Masters, with Tokyo Olympics on their minds. India had settled for bronze after losing 3-2 to Indonesia in their semi-final. Had the two players been there India might have had a better chance to fight and win.

Also Read: Badminton: BAI responds to HS Prannoy

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The 27 year old shuttler is evidently disturbed and fuming at the turn of events.

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 “If they want to do something like this, they have the power to do it since the association is above the players. They have done their part and given their punishment. Now I can at least proceed with it my way and put in my request for Arjuna Awards,” Prannoy said.

“I will definitely be fighting for it, I will not let it go. I want to see how far I can go because I think I deserve the award, looking at my performance and lack of recognition last year”

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The former world number eight said, “From what I know, my name did reach the committee for the Awards last year but it was dropped later on and given to someone else. So I am not really blaming the association for the snub last year. But this year they are having disciplinary issues with me and Srikanth. I don’t want to comment on it since we all know what happened over there.”

Bias against Players from Kerala

He also claimed that a bias exists against players from Kerala.

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“There have been a lot of players in the past who have not received recognition and I feel that their names should have been there. There are many shuttlers worthy of getting Arjuna, especially from my state Kerala. Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar are some of the best doubles players ever produced by Kerala but they have not received the award. These things have always happened to players from my state. There is no one to speak for us. Getting these kinds of awards needs a push and a pull,” he said.

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