Sai Praneeth B on Sunday won the Men’s Singles in the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, becoming the second Indian to have ever won the coveted trophy. Coached at the Gopichand Badminton Academy under former-badminton-champion-turned-coach, Pullela Gopichand, Sai Praneeth beat Indonasia’s Jonatan Christie 17-21, 21-18, 21-19 to win the title.
Currently ranked 24th in the world, the Hyderabad-born 24-year-old is no stranger to records. He kick-started his career by winning the U-10 title. By the time he was 21, he had the U-13, U-16, U-19 titles, a bronze in the world juniors, and a senior national title under his belt.
After a lull, the right-handed shuttler began his senior international career in style this year when he defeated India’s Srikanth Kidambi to win the Singapore Open on April 16, 2017.
It was a historic moment for India as the duo were the first Indian pair to enter the finals of a ranking event in badminton. Srikanth, incidentally, trains at the same academy as Sai Praneeth and had won the Thailand Open in 2013.
Sai Praneeth's all-time-high ranking of 22 fell two points early this month when he suffered consecutive losses at the India Open and the Malaysia Open. Sunday's victory could help him level that loss.
He is looking forward to leaving his mark in the upcoming Indonesian Open and Australian Open in the coming months before his maiden World Championship appearance in August.
