Pranay eyes glory in Mumbai after training at Hyderabad

Pranay Shettigar at CCI yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Pranay Shettigar, 13, of Oxford Public School (Kandivli) recorded an upset win, defeating top seed Soham Pathak of Parle Tilak Vidyalaya English Medium School (Vile Parle) 21-18, 24-22 in a boys' U-14 semi-final of the CCI-MSSA inter-school badminton tournament at the CCI courts yesterday.

The taller and fitter Pranay attributed his maiden win over Soham to his rigorous nine-hour training sessions under renowned coach Bhaskar Babu at the Bhaskar Babu MLRIT Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.

"I had lost to Soham in our previous two outings [MSSA U-12 semis two years ago and District Championship in Goregaon]. After I started training in Hyderabad, there is a remarkable improvement in my game and it showed in the win today. I learnt the basics of the game under Manish Hadkar sir of Goregaon Sports Club. Later, my parents enrolled me with Bhaskar sir in Hyderabad for professional coaching. I live and train in Hyderabad and only come to Mumbai for my semester exams.

My school authorities have been very understanding. They've permitted me to skip regular classes," said Pranay, who is confident of beating Jamnabai Narsee's Shaurya Kandoi in today's final. Shaurya beat Maneckji Cooper's Avighna Gadgil 21-18, 21-14 in the second semi-final yesterday.

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