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Big title imminent: B Sai Praneeth

A big title is imminent for him, feels shuttler B. Sai Praneeth, who clinched his maiden Grand Prix crown at the Canada Open last week.

A big title is imminent for him, feels shuttler B. Sai Praneeth, who clinched his maiden Grand Prix crown at the Canada Open last week.

Injuries and indifferent form have marred the 23-year-old’s recent performances and he has been making early exits from tournaments.

But on Sunday night, the Andhra Pradesh lad thrashed Korea’s Lee Hyun Il 21-12, 21-10 in a lop-sided final to stand at the podium with his maiden Grand Prix crown.

“I never expected the final to be so easy but I am happy the way I played. I am happy that I won the tournament and beating Lee Hun II gives me a lot of confidence going ahead. I think I played well in this tournament,” Praneeth told a wire agency.

“It doesn’t change any targets as my aim is to win something big and I know I am not too far from that in terms of capability,” he added.

Praneeth has had occasional burst of brilliance, like when he stunned 2003 All England Champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold tournament in 2013 or ruined the farewell party of Indonesian great Taufik Hidayat the Indonesia Open in 2013.

In fact, at the All England Championships this year, Praneeth had defeated two-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the first round.

However, despite all these sparks of excellence, a title always eluded him until last week.

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