Singapore Open: B Sai Praneeth wins his maiden Super Series title

This event showed Indian badminton is progressing: Praneeth

17976732_1481461721872794_1573394859_o
Praneeth wins his maiden Super Series title. Image Source: twitter

Internet Desk: India’s B Sai Praneeth beat his compatriot Kidambi Srikanth to clinch the Singapore Super Series men’s singles title on Sunday. It was his maiden Super Series Trophy.

Praneeth edged past Srikanth in a tough three game battle by 17-21, 21-17, 21-12 in a 54-minute long contest, which was the first all-Indian Super Series final in the history of badminton.

“It’s always difficult to play someone with whom you play everyday. I am very happy to win today. The way I played in the tournament, I’m very happy. The support here for the Indians has also been very nice,” an overwhelmed Praneeth said after the 54-minute clash.

It was the first time in the history of international badminton that two Indians were playing a Super Series final and it turned out to be a thrilling contest.

The two trainees of the Gopichand academy exploited every chink that they were aware of in each other’s game.

In the first game, Srikanth played some angled shots to set up his points and then used his accurate smashes to seal them. He gathered many points on Praneeth’s forehand with his brilliant returns.

Srikanth started with two lame returns but as the game progressed, he showed his class to outmaneuver his compatriot. The duo didn’t go for long rallies and varied the pace with their repertoire of strokes.

It was Srikanth who grabbed an 11-7 advantage during the first break with a cross-court smash which Praneeth couldn’t return despite a full stretch dive.

Praneeth too made Srikanth run for every point before closing in to make it 14-15.

Srikanth did not relent either and came up with down the line smashes to grab five game points.

In the second game, Srikanth rushed to a 4-1 lead but Praneeth clawed back at 7-7. The duo, which trains together at the Gopichand Academy, moved neck-and-neck till 10-10 before Praneeth grabbed a one-point advantage with Srikanth hitting wide.

Praneeth continued to dominate the proceedings and moved to a 20-17 lead when Srikanth made a service error. He then roared back into the contest when his compatriot hit wide.

In the decider, Praneeth carried the momentum and surged to a 7-3 lead which he consolidated to 11-5 at the break. It was another towering smash on Srikanth’s backhand which gave him the lead.

The change of court didn’t break Praneeth’s rhythm as he continued to trouble Srikanth with his array of strokes and better net-play.

In the end, a drop shot gave Praneeth a 19-12 lead and Srikanth handed him the match point when he hit wide. Praneeth made it count to seal his first Super Series title when his compatriot again hit wide.

Praneeth burst onto the scene in 2010 after clinching a bronze at World Junior Championships and won many international challengers but a big win always eluded him.

The 24-year-old finally achieved his dream of winning a Super Series today in Singapore.

“I am very happy to win today. The way I played in the tournament I m very happy. It s the best feeling. I have been waiting for this for a long long time. I think top two singles is a first time for India and it s history and you can see Indian badminton is going up from this tournament,” Praneeth told the media after winning the title.

“And it’s not only men singles players even women singles players are also doing good,” he added.

Over the last seven years, Praneeth has beaten many accomplished shuttlers such as former All England Champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia, former Olympic and World champion Taufik Hidayat and World no 1 Lee Chong Wei but couldn’t win a tournament.

“I think I’ve always been playing well with top players like last year with Lee Chong Wei. But I have not won any tournament. That feeling has always been uncomfortable in my mind. I worked hard the last time at Syed Modi. I had a shoulder injury, so I had to skip All England and Swiss.

“I have trained for one and a half month continuously. I think the way I train and my fitness has improved and it helped me.”

Asked if his 4-1 head-to-head record against Srikanth was on his mind ahead of the final, Praneeth said: “No, because I think we always practice together we used to practice long from past so many years, so the record is just a record but as long as we Indians play each other the record doesn t matter, it s just a day whoever wins the match. And today is my day.”

Asked if he was nervous playing his first Super Series final, Praneeth said: “It is a great feeling playing finals but I was not nervous because the opponent is Srikanth and I know his game and he knows my game.

“In the first game I was just feeling down because my thing was just not working and he was playing at a very good pace and he was catching everything. I didn t know what was wrong in my game. But later in the second game I reached 7-2, 7-3 and later we were going equal. So once I got all my strokes going good, I got some rhythm.

“In the third, I got a good lead and I felt that he felt under pressure.”

Condoling the sudden demise of BAI president Akhilesh Das Gupta, Praneeth said: “My heartfelt condolences to his family.

It s a shocking news for all of us. I think he is the one who made Indian badminton so big and he brought premier badminton league, world championships and Super Series. He’s the man who has done a lot for badminton.”

Srikanth, who reached his first Super Series final ever since his India Open win two years ago, said he could not capitalise on the chances.

“I think I started really well, and also in the second game I had a good four-five points lead but I couldn t capitalise on it and I think that really made the difference.”

Asked if match fitness was an issue, Srikanth said, “I don’t think it was an issue as I have been playing very well throughout this tournament, I have played three games. I have played three quarter-finals and a big match. I think maybe I lacked a little bit of match practice in the end.”

I am really happy the way I played over the week, I didn t expect to be here when I left India so I m really happy. So many things to take away from this tournament.

“I really want to continue playing tournaments without any break. That s the first major thing I m thinking about.

With inputs from PTI.