Thailand Open: Glory for India as B Sai Praneeth beats Jonathan Christie in nail-biting final

Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth defeated fourth seeded Jonathan Christie in the summit clash of the Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Sunday. Praneeth came back from a game down and won 17-21, 21-18, 21-19 in a hard-fought battle that went down to the wire.

The third seeded Praneeth registered a straight-sets win in the semi-finals over Pannawit Thongnuam of host nation in straight games 21-11, 21-15, which lasted for just 36 minutes.  Praneeth had completely dominated the opening game. Thongnuam tried hard to take the fight to Praneeth in the second game, but the final outcome hardly looked in doubt.

It was a mixed day for India on Saturday as ace shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out in the semifinals. Saina lost out to Busanan Ongbamrumphan 21-19, 21-18.