Saina, Prannoy win Nationals
SRIKANTH AND PRANNOY HAVE PLAYED FOUR TIMES IN THEIR INTERNATIONAL CAREER BUT IT WAS THE FORMER WHO HAD THE LAST LAUGH ON THE LAST THREE OCCASIONS.
NAGPUR: Saina Nehwal edged out PV Sindhu 21-17, 27-25 in a thrilling final to win the women’s singles title at the National Badminton Championship. The match lasted 54 minutes. The win took Saina 2-1 up in her head-to-head against Sindhu.
Saina started the match well and managed to take the first game 21-17 to peg back Sindhu. The 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist, however, fought back in the second game and took an early lead.
Saina came back strongly to wrest back the lead at 19-18. Both players fought neck-and-neck as Sindhu saved five straight match points in the second game. Saina, however, pulled through in the end to win the game 27-25 and regain the national title which she had won on two previous occasions.
“I am surprised with the way I played today. I moved well and picked Sindhu’s difficult shots,” an elated Saina said after the win.
Earlier, HS Prannoy defeated world No 2 and title favourite Kidambi Srikanth to claim the men’s singles title.
Second seed Prannoy, who achieved his career-best ranking of World No 11 last week, saw off top seed Srikanth 21-15, 16-21, 21-7 in a 49-minute clash to return the favour after his semifinal loss to his compatriot at the French Open Super Series last month.
Satwik Sai Raj R and Ashwini Ponnappa, who decided to pair up just six months back, showed their prowess by beating top seed and World No 16 Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy 21-9, 20-22, 21-17 to clinch the mixed doubles crown.
SECOND WIN
Srikanth and Prannoy have played four times in their international career but it was the former who had the last laugh on the last three occasions. The only time Prannoy had beaten Srikanth was way back at the 2011 Tata Open.
Srikanth has been in the form of his life as he clinched four titles after reaching five finals this season but all the statistics didn’t matter as Prannoy showed why his wins over Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long this season were no fluke.
“It means a lot. It came at the right time for me. I have been playing this event. It is great that I could beat Srikanth in the final. I have been playing well before this tournament and hope to do well in future,” Prannoy said.