Former World Championship bronze medalist B Sai Praneeth showed nerves of steel to outsmart in-form HS Prannoy in a thrilling three-setter as Telangana shut out Kerala 3-0 to claim the coveted gold medal. gold in mixed team badminton at the National Games on Monday.
Enduring a drop in form for over a year now, Tokyo Olympian Praneeth finally had something to cheer about as he dug deep into his tank to see Kerala’s top commuter Prannoy 18-21 21-16 22 -20 to give Telangana a 2-0 lead.
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His victory follows another brilliant display by the husband and wife duo of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy, who edged the young pair of MR Arjun and Treesa Jolly 21-15 14-21 21-14 in a battle exciting.
In women’s singles, Samiya Farooqui defeated TR Gowrikrishna 21-5 21-12 to seal the victory for Telangana.
Telangana’s decision to field experienced Sumeeth and Sikki in the opening mixed doubles match ahead of Vishnuvardhan Goud and Gayatri Gopichand, who lost to Maharashtra, paid off in giving the team the edge.
“We only gave the coach the chance to try us out,” Sumeeth said, even though they last played together at the 2021 Thailand Open.
The pair fumbled early as the fast Arjun and Treesa took a 5-2 lead.
“We were playing after a long time. We don’t even practice together because we argue quite often. It took a while to get into a rhythm. But once we found our rhythm, we found a good rhythm,” Sikki said with a smile.
The Kerala pair, however, fought back to win the second game, with Arjun sending powerful smashes from the baseline and Treesa being effective at the net.
The third game was tight until 12-all before a change of strategy did the trick for Telangana.
“I think the turning point was when I went for variations in my serve, without giving them length,” Sikki explained.
The next game was crucial with Prannoy, who is currently ranked 15th in the world and having a dream season, starting as favorite against Praneeth, whose BWF world ranking has slipped to 40 due to poor form.
“I knew it would be a tough game, especially since we know each other’s game as we often train together. But little by little I found my moves,” said 2017 Singapore Open champion Praneeth.
The first game was played fiercely. A provisional Praneeth made a few unforced errors while Prannoy looked good with his full game. They went neck and neck until 18-18 before Prannoy prevailed with a few measured shots.
Praneeth was in full swing in game two, with his repertoire of shots catching Prannoy on the wrong foot. He took a 13-7 lead and held on to make it 1-1.
In game three, Praneeth built a healthy 13-7 lead before Prannoy clawed his way back to make it 18-18.
“I was suddenly empty when Prannoy started playing a fast game. With the shuttle also slowly pulling away, I was a little surprised. But luckily I kept my nerves and got this crucial victory. It will lift my spirits,” Praneeth said.
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