'This country is a joke': HS Prannoy roasts BAI after not being nominated for Arjuna Award

New Delhi, June 03: Top shuttler HS Prannoy slammed the Badminton Association of India (BAI)  and questioned the selection criteria for Arjuna Award. He said players who have won nothing are recommended instead of those who have won medals in Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships.

 

 

His remarks came after the BAI recommended doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and men’s singles player Sameer Verma for Arjuna Award on Tuesday. “Same old story. Guy who has Medals in Cwg and Asian Championships not even recommended by Association. And the guy who was not there on any of these major events recommended, #waah #thiscountryisajoke, "he said.

 

 

Former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap also tweeted supporting him."Never actually understood the system of applying for an award . I hope this changes. Be strong bro," Kashyap tweeted.

 

 

Prannoy was also not nominated the last year and slammed them even then. "If you want your name in the awards list, make sure you have people who will get your name to the list. Performance is least considered in our country. Sad taste of our country but can't help it. Let go and just play until you can, " he had said.

 

In the last four years, Prannoy was looking good in 2018 where he won a gold medal as part of the Indian mixed team which became champions at the Commonwealth Games for the first time. He even won a bronze at the Wuhan Asian Championships and in May 2018 he was ranked World No. 8, his career-best ranking.

 

Speaking about him in 2017, Prannoy had defeated former world no 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and a reigning Olympic champion Chen Long of China in successive matches in the Indonesian Open. He also reached the finals of the US Open the same year. At home, he won his maiden senior national championship title beating then World No 2 Kidambi Srikanth in the final. He was also part of the men's team which won bronze medals at the Asia Team Championships in 2016 and 2020.