Hyderabad: After the announcement of his retirement from international badminton on March 4, World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth has said that he will move to the USA to pursue a career in coaching by the next month.
"I am going to the US as a coach next month and this was a good time for me to take retirement," Sai Praneeth told ETV Bharat in a special interaction. Talking about his achievements, the former badminton player remarked that the World Championship medal and representing India at the Olympics' were his best achievements.
After 30 years an Indian shuttler - Sai Praneeth - won the coveted bronze medal in the 2019 World Championship held at Basel in Switzerland. Speaking about that medal, the 31-year-old Hyderabad-born Praneeth added, "It was a very big medal for me and India.. really I was very happy that I had my name on the list of Indian badminton."
Quizzed whether the badminton scenario has changed in India since he started playing, Sai Praneeth quipped, "When I started playing badminton and till now, it has completely changed.. like the support from the government and the association, the facility, result...changed a lot."
"Initially when I joined badminton not many used to know or used to play as a profession. Now, after cricket the most popular sport in India is badminton, so it has become famous because of all the results that Indian badminton has got and in future, it will change a lot," he asserted.
"Initially, there was not much exposure to international tournaments and then later there was a lot of exposure and many players (are) coming up and playing international tournaments.. standard of everyone has gone up because of Gopi sir (chief national coach and former shuttler P Gopichand). He was the main person, who lifted Indian badminton as he was the top player, so he knew exactly what should be done to a player to achieve the goal. He has done hard work and we believe in him completely," he added.
When asked about the government's contribution to badminton, Sai Praneeth added, "The government is doing its best and (its contribution is) going up year by year."
Sai Praneeth, an Arjuna awardee, is expecting India can get one or two medals from badminton in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"One or two (medals) we can expect because everyone (is) playing well as (PV) Sindhu, Satvik (Satwiksairaj Rankireddy)-Chirag (Shetty), HS Prannoy are there. Satvik-Chirag are World no. 1, so definitely you have to expect a medal or a gold medal from them because they are world no. 1. They are playing at the highest level and are in good form and (HS) Prannoy is (also) playing very well."
Sai Praneeth has a message for youngsters, who want to take up badminton as a profession. "Focus and enjoy badminton, be disciplined and do hard work.. rest follow the rules.. and by this, you can achieve the goal," he quipped.
"If you want to become a good player in badminton, you have to start at the age of seven or eight. Youngsters cannot be champions in a short time, it is a long process. But initially, you can not tell them to live in discipline, so first let them enjoy the game and later it depends on what they are and slowly everything will come," he concluded.
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