Sai Praneeth wins Thailand Grand Prix

Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth is on a winning spree as he clinched the $ 120,000 Thailand Open with a hard fought 17-21, 21-18, 21-19 victory against Christie Jonatan of indonesia in Bangkok on Sunday. In a gruelling one hour 11 minutes contest, Praneeth lost the first set. Yet he showed no signs of nervousness and made an impressive comeback. The second game was an exciting one with both players trading leads. Jonatan was brilliant with his fast paced power packed game, but Praneeth seemed to be in great form and won the second game with a deceptive half smash. Christie raced ahead as he took a 8-2 lead in the third game, but Praneeth played defensive and returned all shots, thus frustrating his opponent. He caught up with his opponent at 9-9 and managed to stay ahead of his rival. Praneeth acknowledged that the final was tough, but he was delighted that he could defeat his opponent in the close match. He said that he tried to focus a lot on rallies and to build up the lead. This is a back to back win for Praneeth who had also won the Singapore Open this year. Praneeth said that he owed this victory to his coach Pullela Gopichand, family, relatives and all those who helped him in the Academy.