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Fitness was the key: B Sai Praneet
Fresh from his Thailand Open title, which was also his maiden Grand Prix Gold singles success, B Sai Praneeth, on Tuesday underscored the importance of fitness and how it transformed his approach to the game.\"Winning titles is always great and very important. After Singapore Super Series, I immediately won my next (Thailand Open) tournament and I am very happy about it,\" Praneeth told reporters at
Hyderabad: Fresh from his Thailand Open title, which was also his maiden Grand Prix Gold singles success, B Sai Praneeth, on Tuesday underscored the importance of fitness and how it transformed his approach to the game."Winning titles is always great and very important. After Singapore Super Series, I immediately won my next (Thailand Open) tournament and I am very happy about it," Praneeth told reporters at the Gopichand Badminton Academy.
"I have become fitter. I have trained for long time.Before Singapore I trained for six weeks and after that I have trained for a month, and I think that is where my fitness level has increased. My fitness has improved and I am playing better," he added.
Asked if he felt any improvement in his game from last year, Praneeth said, "Only the fitness level. I need only fitness to win titles. Overall I have my game, I have good strokes, but without fitness those do not work. So if I am fit enough I think I can win many more titles. So fitness is the key for my game.
"All coaches and everyone know that the only key for my game is fitness. So, I just need to maintain and improve it so that I can play well."Praneeth admitted that he was going through one of best phases of his career at the moment."Winning back to back titles...this is best phase till now. After playing India, Malaysia and Singapore (tournaments) and winning Singapore and Thailand tournaments, obviously now I am more confident," he said.
Praneeth said he was looking forward to the upcoming Indonesian Open and Australian Open before his maiden World Championship appearance in August."I am prepared well. Now I have just four days left (for Indonesian Open). I am playing good and I am fit enough. I will continue my training and get ready for the upcoming tournaments.
"World Championship is a very big event and I am really looking forward to it. For World Championship, I have six weeks time (after the Indonesian and Australian Open). That is good enough to prepare for the World Championship. If I train for five to six weeks continuously I think it's good enough for me," Praneeth said.
Meanwhile, chief national coach Pullela Gopichand said “I am very happy that Praneeth has won his second tournament this year. I hope this serves as a motivation for the future as well and we will continue to have more results from him.”
