AGENCY
BANGKOK: Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth lifted his maiden Grand Prix gold title by posting a come- from-behind victory over Indonesian Jonatan Christie in the men’s singles final of the USD 1,20,000 Thailand Open here on Sunday.
The third seeded Indian prevailed 17-21 21-18 21-19 over the fourth seeded Indonesian in a contest that lasted an hour and 11 minutes. This is Praneeth’s second consecutive title win, following the Singapore Open victory. He had reached the finals of Syed Modi International in January at Hyderabad, where he lost to Sameer Verma.
Praneeth, ranked 24 in the world, did not have an ideal start in the final as he went down in the opening game.
“I was just focusing on the rallies. It was a difficult match. The rallies were going too long. But I tried to slowly and slowly build up and I am happy I could win. I thank everyone who supported me,” said Praneeth after the match.
The Indonesian opened up a 3-0 lead but Praneeth soon caught up with him at 4-4 and it was a close battle till 7-7 before Christie broke free to maintain a slender edge.