B. Sai Praneeth, who won the men’s singles bronze medal in the recent World championship in Basel, says it could be the beginning of a new chapter in his career.
“Obviously, it (bronze) means great to me,” he said at the Gopi Chand Academy where he trains.
“There was no extra pressure and I entered this event like any other championship. But, I am happy with the end result,” he said on Tuesday.
“Definitely the Arjuna Award gave me that extra motivation in the Worlds but again it is never easy to compete at that level. But beating Christie was something special which I cherish,” he said.
On P.V. Sindhu winning gold, Praneeth felt that once she beat Tai Tzu the confidence was up not only for her but for the entire contingent that she could just pull it off.
“It was a fantastic finally from Indian point of view,” he said.
“From India in men’s singles only two will be selected from India for Olympics if your are in the top 16 and so the competition is really tough among ourselves,” he said with a smile.
“This time I got enough time to prepare for the Super Series events and also for this World championship and so the training sessions have really helped me,” he said.
“Now, the focus is on improving my all-round game and fitness levels,” Praneeth said. “It is more of endurance and intensity training now and this is good for us,” he added.
“There are so many tournaments and you just can't focus only one event for you have to keep an eye on the World rankings to stay in the race. You have to be consistent to be in the race for an Olympic medal which is the biggest goal I am chasing now,” he concluded.
