Pranaav Chopra Biography: It comes as no surprise that the Gopichand Badminton Academy has produced every shuttler in India today. However, India’s top doubles player, Pranaav Chopra, began playing the sport in Ludhiana when he was just 7 years old and joined the renowned Gopichand academy much later in his career. Here’s everything you need to know about Commonwealth gold medalist Pranaav Chopra.
Pranaav Chopra Biography
Early Days
On September 6, 1992, at Mullanpur Dakha in Ludhiana, Punjab, Pranaav was born. At the tender age of 7, he took up the racket for the first time. Young Pranaav began working out at the Sutlej Club in Ludhiana with his father, and as time went on, he grew more and more passionate about the sport. He left his birthplace when he was 10 years old to enroll in a Mumbai badminton academy, where he trained under Uday Pawar.
Pranaav began to dominate the age-group tournaments as early as when he was a U13. From U13 through U19, the shuttler was the unquestioned national doubles champion. Pranaav set a record by winning nine championships in the U19 division in a single season.
Initial Success
When he was 15 years old, Pranaav participated in the 2007 Milo Junior Tournament in Bandang, Thailand. And the shuttler wasn’t necessary for them to succeed on the world stage. At the 2007 Berlin Badminton Open Tournament, he took home the bronze medal. But a year later, in Pune, he got his big break.
In the boys’ doubles competition at the Pune Youth Commonwealth Games in 2008, Pranaav and Sai Praneeth took home the bronze medal. At about the same time, Pranaav enrolled at Hyderabad’s Gopichand Badminton Academy. The boy did not turn back after that; he moved on. Together with Sai Praneet, he won the 2010 Iran Fajr International.
Doubles Specialist
Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and many others are just a few of the singles superstars that India has produced in recent years. However, Pranaav had established a reputation for himself in the doubles and mixed doubles divisions, taking home trophies from a very young age all around the world.
In the mixed doubles division of the 2009 Badminton Asian Junior Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Pranaav and Prajakta Sawant took home the bronze medal. In addition, the shuttler won the men’s doubles and mixed doubles at the National Games in 2010 and 2013, respectively.
Pranaav’s partner in the majority of the men’s doubles competitions has been Akshay Dewalkar. The team has had success in several events.
The duo of Pranaav and Akshay won the 2011 Tata International Challenge by beating Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas, who were a higher-ranked pair. In 2011, they triumphed in the Swiss International Challenge, taking home the silver medal. The duo won a gold medal at the Bangladesh International and a silver medal at the Tata Open in 2015.
Part of the Indian Team
The Indian squad for the 2014 Commonwealth Games included Pranaav. In the group stage and the quarterfinal matchup with Canada, he won all three of his games. However, the Indian team finished in fourth place after losing both the bronze medal game against Singapore and the semifinal against England.
He participated in the 2016 Asian Squad Championship as a member of the Indian men’s squad once more. India once again breezed through the group stage but fell to Indonesia in the semifinal. Pranaav’s first medal with the squad, the Indian team’s bronze medal, was won.
BWF Grand Prix and World Tour Success
Pranaav had a remarkable year in 2016. In addition to the bronze at the Asian Championship, he earned his first medals at the BWF Grand Prix and BWF Grand Prix Gold.
The 2016 Syed Modi International final was Pranaav’s maiden Grand Prix final. However, in the three-set match, Pranaav and Akshay fell to the Malaysian team. It was Pranav’s first and only silver medal in the men’s doubles division.
N. Sikki Reddy, his new partner in the mixed doubles, helped Pranaav win a few of Grand Prix matches. The couple won the Scottish Open’s silver medal as well as the Opens in Brazil and Russia in 2016.
At the 2017 Syed Modi International, Pranaav and Reddy won their third gold medal collectively by defeating B. Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, another Indian duo. At the 2018 Hyderabad Open, the two also won the silver medal, Pranaav’s first medal on the BWF World Tour.
Commonwealth Gold
But without question, the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games is Pranaav’s most valued trophy. The Indian team finally overcame the semi-final curse after failing to earn a medal at the 2014 Asian Games and taking home just the bronze in the 2016 Asian Championship. In the competition, Pranaav won every game he played and was a key contributor to India’s gold medal performance.
Pranaav Chopra Family
On September 6, 1992, at Mullanpur Dakha in Ludhiana, Punjab, Pranaav was born. His profession was greatly influenced by his father, MK Chopra. He has been addicted to the game since he was a little boy, and we have encouraged him to follow his passion. His accomplishments are a source of pride for both the city and ourselves, he once noted in an interview.
Pranaav is married to Pradnya Gadre, another competitor in mixed doubles. The badminton court is where the couple first met, and it is also where the shuttler proposed to Pradnya.
Also read, The Mr. Dependable, Gautam Gambhir Biography
