HS Prannoy slams Arjuna Award selection criteria and BAI: 'This country is a joke'

HS Prannoy has slammed the Badminton Association of India (BAI) after he was snubbed from the Arjuna Award nomination. The BAI recommended doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and men's singles shuttler Sameer Verma for the Arjuna Award on Tuesday. HS Prannoy took to Twitter to express his frustration with the BAI and found support from fellow Indian badminton star Parupalli Kashyap. 

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Indian badminton star HS Prannoy slams BAI for Arjuna Award snub; find support from Parupalli Kashyap

World No 28 HS Prannoy was snubbed by the Indian badminton association despite his string of good performances over the years. In a cryptic tweet, HS Prannoy slammed the BAI and claimed that the 'country is a joke' after a player who has medaled in CWG and Asian Championships was not even recommended by the Indian badminton association. Instead, the BAI recommended a player who did not feature in any of these major events. Soon after, HS Prannoy found support from Indian ace Parupalli Kashyap, who suggested that he never understood the Arjuna Award selection criteria. In a tweet of his own, Kashyap hoped for a change in the Arjuna Award selection criteria and wished HS Prannoy to stay strong. 

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HS Prannoy had won the mixed team gold at the 2018 CWG in Gold Coast and a men’s singles bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Championships in Wuhan. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have put together a string of consistent performances over the past couple of years to almost guarantee a spot in the now postponed Tokyo Olympics. The Rankireddy-Shetty duo won the Thailand Open last year and later achieved a runners-up finish at the French Open and reached the semi-final of the China Open Super 750. Meanwhile, Sameer Verma won three titles and rose to a career-high No 11 in 2018. Verma's performances earned him a place among the best-eight at the BWF World Tour Finals 2018, where he progressed to the semi-final on debut. Along with the Arjuna Award nominations, the BAI also recommend Bhaskar Babu credited with coaching the likes of Saina Nehwal and Kashyap in their early years, and S. Murlidharan, for the Dronacharya award.

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Also Read: BAI Recommends Satwik, Chirag And Sameer For Arjuna Awards; HS Prannoy Snubbed