Sai Praneeth scripts maiden Super Series final win

Singapore City April 16 (IANS) B. Sai Praneeth clinched his maiden Super Series title by downing compatriot Kidambi Srikanth 17-21 21-17 21-12 in the Singapore Open final here on Sunday.

This was Praneeth s first appearance in a Super Series final the biggest events of the international badminton calendar.

Previously Saina Nehwal P.V. Sindhu and Srikanth have won the coveted crown.

Until Sunday only three other countries -- China Indonesia and Denmark -- had been represented on both sides of the court.

After losing the first game 17-21 Praneeth showed tremendous grit to come back from being 1-6 in the dumps to level at 7-7.

Srikanth tied to assert his dominance with a superb smash down the line to take a 8-7 lead but Praneeth seemed determined to go into the break 11-10 winning 10 of the 14 points on the bounce.

Leading 18-16 Praneeth showed great awareness to outfox Srikanth who relied on his smashes and netplay to dink the cork over his head when he was closer to the net for a sublime point.

Three game points to play for Praneeth returned the favour this time with an identical 21-17 win to hang the final game perfectly in balance.

In the final game Praneeth opened up a 10-4 lead and never looked back as Srikanth made an error.

Srikanth who has a fair bit of experience having played in two finals and winning both - the 2015 India Open and 2014 China Open never looked settled after the first game. It was Praneeth s all round play and array of strokes that pinned his rival down.

It s a great feeling an elated Praneeth said later. I practice with him (Srikanth) so we know each other s game very well. It was a really tough match.

I have been playing well in this tournament and the final win is very special. My hard work had paid off the 24-year-old said.

--IANS
dm/py/mr