Pranaav Jerry Chopra (born 6 September 1992) is an Indian badminton player. He joined the India national badminton team in 2007. In the year 2018, at the Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Queensland, he won the gold medal in mixed team as being a member of the Indian mixed team. He is only the second player from India to reach Top 15 in the World Rankings in Mixed Doubles with his partner.

Childhood and early training

Pranaav started training at the age of 7. He became the national champion twice in the boys doubles U-13 and U-19 events. At the U-19 level, he won a record nine titles in a year. If he is in the city, he used to train at Badminton Academy in the Shastri Hall, at Ludhiana. He lived in South City and later he joined Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad. He practiced eight hours and like to play doubles and mixed doubles instead of singles matches. He was coached by Pullela Gopichand. Pranaav has won medals in several national ranking tournaments. In the Youth Commonwealth Games, Pune, he won a bronze medal, at Fajr Senior International Challenge Cup in Tehran, Iran he won a gold medal and at Tata International Challenge in Mumbai he ended up winning a gold medal and in Bern, Switzerland at The Swiss International Challenge he won a silver medal.

Career

2007

In 2007, Pranaav made his international debut in the Milo Junior Tournament held in Bandang, Thailand.

2008

In 2008, Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune, Pranaav won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the boys' doubles event partnered with B. Sai Praneeth.

2010

In 2010, Pranaav became the national champion in the mixed doubles event in the National Games.

2011

In 2011, Bern, Switzerland, Swiss International Challenge Pranaav won a silver medal in men's doubles event.

2013

In 2013, Pranaav became the national champion in men's doubles event in the National Games.

2014

Pranaav competed at the 2014 Asian Games and in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in the mixed team bronze medal match, Indian mixed team went down to the Singapore mixed team by a score of 2-3 and eventually Indian mixed team lost the bronze medal.

2016

In 2016, Pranaav won two Grand Prix titles with his mixed doubles partner N. Sikki Reddy in the form of Brasil Open and Russian Open. Later in the same year, he married his playing companion and an Indian badminton player, Pradnya Gadre.

2018

In the Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Pranaav paired with his mixed doubles partner, Gadde Ruthvika Shivani defeated Sri Lankan mixed doubles team led by Sachin Dias and Thilini Pramodika Hendahewa by 21-15, 19-21, 22-20 and gave Indian mixed team a lead for the run for the gold medal. Lastly, Indian mixed team defeated Sri Lanka's mixed team by 5-0 in all the five matches and thus Pranaav won the gold medal in mixed team as being a member of the Indian mixed team.

Achievements

South Asian Games

Men's doubles

YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Multipurpose Hall SAI–SAG Centre, Shillong, IndiaIndia Akshay DewalkarIndia Manu Attri India B. Sumeeth Reddy18–21, 17–21Silver

Mixed doubles

YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Multipurpose Hall SAI–SAG Centre, Shillong, IndiaIndia N. Sikki ReddyIndia Manu Attri India Ashwini Ponnappa30–29, 21–17Gold

Commonwealth Youth Games

Boys' doubles

YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2008Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune, IndiaIndia B. Sai PraneethEngland Gary Fox England Richard Morris21–18, 23–21Bronze

Asian Junior Championships

Mixed doubles

YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2009Stadium Juara, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaIndia Prajakta SawantChina Lu Kai China Bao Yixin12–21, 15–21Bronze

BWF World Tour (1 runner-up)

The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Mixed doubles

YearTournamentLevelPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2018Hyderabad OpenSuper 100India N. Sikki ReddyIndonesia Akbar Bintang Cahyono Indonesia Winny Oktavina Kandow21–15, 19–21, 23–25Runner-up

BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.

Men's doubles

YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Syed Modi InternationalIndia Akshay DewalkarMalaysia Goh V Shem Malaysia Tan Wee Kiong21–14, 22–24, 8–21Runner-up

Mixed doubles

YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2017Syed Modi InternationalIndia N. Sikki ReddyIndia B. Sumeeth Reddy India Ashwini Ponnappa22–20, 21–10Winner
2016Scottish OpenIndia N. Sikki ReddyMalaysia Goh Soon Huat Malaysia Shevon Jemie Lai21–13, 18–21, 16–21Runner-up
2016Russian OpenIndia N. Sikki ReddyRussia Vladimir Ivanov Russia Valeria Sorokina21–17, 21–19Winner
2016Brasil OpenIndia N. Sikki ReddyCanada Toby Ng Canada Rachel Honderich21–15, 21–16Winner

BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

Men's doubles

YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2015Tata Open India InternationalIndia Akshay DewalkarThailand Wannawat Ampunsuwan Thailand Tinn Isriyanate14–21, 9–21Runner-up
2015Bangladesh InternationalIndia Akshay DewalkarMalaysia Tan Chee Tean Malaysia Tan Wee Gieen21–16, 21–16Winner
2011Tata Open India InternationalIndia Akshay DewalkarIndia K. T. Rupesh Kumar India Sanave Thomas19–21, 21–17, 23–21Winner
2011Swiss InternationalIndia Akshay DewalkarPoland Lukasz Moren Poland Wojciech Szkudlarczyk21–17, 16–21, 12–21Runner-up
2010Iran Fajr InternationalIndia B. Sai PraneethIran Ali Shahhosseini Iran Mohammadreza Kheradmandi21–17, 21–11Winner

BWF International Challenge tournament

BWF International Series tournament

External links