Surat (Gujarat)[India], October 8 (ANI): The 12 months 2019 should have been a watershed 12 months for B Sai Praneeth, who received the Men’s Badminton title within the thirty sixth National Games.
After persistently beating among the huge names within the sport since 2017, he topped it off by successful the Singapore Super Series crown in 2017 and a World Championship bronze medal in 2019.
It appeared like he would go on to beat the world, step-by-step. But then the Covid Pandemic broke. Lockdowns had been imposed world wide, together with in India.
Everything got here to a standstill, together with Sai Praneeth’s profession.
“My career has been on a high since 2017. I was on top of my game and was brimming with confidence too,” he mentioned, shortly after giving Telangana their third gold within the shuttle sport. “But unfortunately, the lockdowns were imposed. It proved to be a huge disaster for me,” he added.
“My training came to a halt. I used to go to the stadium but I wouldn’t have any sparring partners. I was in a confused state of mind too. I didn’t know if I should train or play safe. I ended up sitting at home,” he disclosed, explaining the dip in his rankings.
Sai Praneeth misplaced momentum and his confidence additionally took a jolt. A few accidents additionally did not assist.
“I could not plan or train properly for the Tokyo Olympics. After that, because of a sudden overload of training, I picked up injuries too,” he revealed.
The 30-year-old extremely gifted participant feels he’s again in his groove now. It should have helped that he upset Kerala’s HS Prannoy, at present main the World Tour Rankings, within the Team Championship Finals.
In the Men’s Singles finals, he downed Karnataka’s Mithun Manjunath for the title.
“It is all about self-belief and confidence. The win over Prannoy in the National Games will be a big boost for me going forward,” he conceded.
Sai Praneeth, nevertheless, dismisses the discuss that he’s on his means out, declaring that he nonetheless has 2-3 years of badminton left in him. “My priority is to get back into the Top-25 in the world as early as possible. I have to work on my fitness so that I can play in several tournaments. My family is a big help and that motivates me to play again. When I see my son, I feel relieved and happy,” he mentioned, signing off. (ANI)