World championship bronze medallist and one of the most elegant shuttlers in Indian badminton, B. Sai Praneeth, quit the sport on Monday.
“There is no specific reason but I felt the way I had to struggle last year because of a combination of factors including injuries, I thought I cannot cope with the demanding schedule of playing sometimes two matches in a day in some of the majors,” Praneeth informed The Hindu.
“Well, age is also a factor. At 32, I could have played at the most another one year. So, I took the call after discussing it with my parents and my wife (Sweta). There are no regrets at all,” he said.
“Well, losing in the first round of 2020 Olympics has been the biggest disappointment while winning the 2019 World Championship bronze and the Singapore Open should be the high-points of my career,” Praneeth said.
“Looking back at the journey, I am quite satisfied with my contribution to Indian badminton and I hope I will be remembered as a special player in a group which really dominated the world stage,” he said.
“Beating the likes of Lee Chong Wei in 2016 All England in the first round and some of the big names like Chen Long, Taufik Hidayat and Lin Dan are great memories for sure,” said Praneeth who says he can spend more time with his family (wife Sweta and two-year-old Sriyansh).
“Frankly, I feel I have done what I could in the long career. Yes, I could have won some big tournaments and then the script would have been different,” he said.
“I do believe even if there can be a gap once our group of players (the others being K. Srikanth, H.S. Prannoy, P. Kashyap, Sameer Varma) quit the sport. Yes, there are some real good players like Lakshya (Sen) and Priyanshu. I hope they will continue the legacy,” Praneeth said.
The shuttler said he would be taking up a coaching assignment in North Carolina (USA) soon and continue to stay connected to the sport.
