Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth (born 10 August 1992) is an Indian former badminton player.[4][5][6] He became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to win a bronze medal in the BWF World Championships in 2019 after Prakash Padukone in 1983.[7] Sai Praneeth was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2019.[8] His parents are Seshadri Deekshitulu and Madhavi Latha of Palakollu, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. His maternal aunt was a national level badminton player.[9]

B. Sai Praneeth
Personal information
Birth nameBhamidipati Sai Praneeth
CountryIndia
Born (1992-08-10) 10 August 1992 (age 32)
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
[1][2]
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Retired4 March 2024[3]
HandednessRight
CoachPullela Gopichand
Men's singles
Career record236 wins, 168 losses
Highest ranking10 (12 November 2019)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  India
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Basel Men's singles
Asia Team Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Hyderabad Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Manila Men's team
South Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Guwahati-Shillong Men's team
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Guadalajara Boys' singles
Commonwealth Youth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Pune Boys' doubles
BWF profile

Career

edit

Sai Praneeth is an India badminton player who currently trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad. The right-handed Indian stunned the 2003 All England Champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia at the 2013 Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold tournament in the first round.[10]

In 2013, Praneeth defeated Taufik Hidayat unexpectedly early in front of a home crowd. He defeated Taufik Hidayat in the first round match of the Djarum Indonesia Open 2013, with the final score being 15-21, 21-12, 21-17.[11] A few days later, on 19 June 2013, he again upstaged a much higher ranked Hu Yun of Hong Kong in the Singapore Super Series.[12]

At the 2016 All England Super Series Premier, Sai Praneeth defeated the 2nd seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the 1st Round 24-22, 22-20 in straight games.[13] In July 2016, he won his maiden Grand Prix title, the 2016 Canada Open Grand Prix in the men's singles category. In the final match played at Calgary, Sai Praneeth defeated Lee Hyun-il of South Korea 21-12, 21-10.[14] In 2017, he won the Singapore Open Super Series after beating compatriot Srikanth Kidambi in the final in three games, hence becoming the fourth Indian to win a superseries title after Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi and P. V. Sindhu.[15]

In 2019, Praneeth won a bronze medal at the BWF World Championships in Basel, Switzerland after losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Kento Momota. In his route to the semifinal, he beat sixth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in the third round and the reigning Asian Games Champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the quarterfinals.[16][17]

Praneeth qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,[18] where he was seeded thirteenth. However, he made a shock exit at the group stage after losing to Misha Zilberman of Israel[19] and Mark Caljouw of Netherlands.[20]

Praneeth announced his retirement through his social media account Instagram on 4 March 2024.[3] He will start a new journey as a coach in the United States.[21]

Achievements

edit

World Championships

edit

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2019 St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland   Kento Momota 13–21, 8–21   Bronze

World Junior Championships

edit

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2010 Domo del Code Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico   Viktor Axelsen 21–19, 15–21, 15–21   Bronze

Commonwealth Youth Games

edit

Boys' doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2008 Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune, India   Pranav Chopra   Gary Fox
  Richard Morris
21–18, 23–21   Bronze

BWF World Tour (1 runner-up)

edit

The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[22] is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[23]

Men's singles

Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result
2019 Swiss Open Super 300   Shi Yuqi 21–19, 18–21, 12–21   Runner-up

BWF Superseries (1 title)

edit

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries had two levels: Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries featured twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year-end.

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2017 Singapore Open   Srikanth Kidambi 17–21, 21–17, 21–12   Winner
  BWF Superseries Finals tournament
  BWF Superseries Premier tournament
  BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

edit

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2016 Canada Open   Lee Hyun-il 21–12, 21–10   Winner
2017 Syed Modi International   Sameer Verma 19–21, 16–21   Runner-up
2017 Thailand Open   Jonatan Christie 17–21, 21–18, 21–19   Winner
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (6 titles, 1 runner-up)

edit

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2010 Iran Fajr International   Mohammadreza Kheradmandi 21–19, 21–18   Winner
2012 Bahrain International   Niluka Karunaratne 14–21, 21–14, 21–17   Winner
2012 Tata Open India International   R. M. V. Gurusaidutt 19–21, 12–21   Runner-up
2015 Sri Lanka International   Sameer Verma 21–18, 21–8   Winner
2015 Lagos International   Adrian Dziolko 21–14, 21–11   Winner
2015 Bangladesh International   Sameer Verma 21–14, 8–21, 21–17   Winner

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2010 Iran Fajr International   Pranav Chopra   Ali Shahhosseini
  Mohammadreza Kheradmandi
21–17, 21–12   Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament

Record against selected opponents

edit

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 9 April 2024.[24]

References

edit
  1. ^ "B. Sai Praneeth - Personal Information & Career Achievements". 22 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Hyderabad's Sai Praneeth powers into Arjuna arena". 19 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b Ratnakar, M. "Sai Praneeth announces retirement from international badminton". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 April 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Sai Praneeth Bhamidipati". Olympic Channel. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Players: Sai Praneeth B." Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 30 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Player Profile of Sai Praneeth B." www.badmintoninindia.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  7. ^ "BWF World Championships: B Sai Praneeth settles for bronze after losing to Kento Momota". Hindustan Times. 24 August 2019. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  8. ^ "B. Sai Praneeth: 'Arjuna award gave me extra motivation for World C'ships'". The Hindu. 27 August 2019. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Hyderabad's Sai Praneeth powers into Arjuna arena". 19 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Easy win for Saina, Praneeth stuns Hashim". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  11. ^ "B Sai Praneeth spoils Taufik Hidayat's swansong; Parupalli Kashyap exits". www.dnaindia.com. DNA. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Sai Praneeth stuns world No. 4 Yun Hu in Singapore Open". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  13. ^ "Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth stuns three-time winner Lee Chong Wei in 1st round at All England". www.news18.com. Network 18. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Sai Praneeth wins the 2016 Canada Open". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Sai Praneeth rallies to down Srikanth, wins maiden Super Series title". www.thehindu.com. The Hindu8. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  16. ^ "World Badminton Championships: B Sai Praneeth Enter Quarters, HS Prannoy Loses". News18. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  17. ^ "B Sai Praneeth becomes first Indian male to win BWF World Championships medal in 36 years". The Indian Express. 24 August 2019. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  18. ^ "It's official: Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth out of reckoning for Tokyo Olympics". M Ratnakar. The Times of India. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Tokyo Olympics 2020: B Sai Praneeth off to disastrous start, loses to Israel's Misha Zilberman in opening game". Firstpost. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  20. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: B Sai Praneeth crashes out after losing against Mark Caljouw". Times of India. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Sai Praneeth retires from international badminton, to join US club as head coach". Hindustan Times. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  22. ^ "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  23. ^ "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. 15 January 2018. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  24. ^ "Sai Praneeth B. Profile – Head To Head". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
edit