B Sai Praneeth, PV Sindhu create history at World Championships

Basel Switzerland PV Sindhu secured her fifth World Championships medal following a stunning comeback while B Sai Praneeth became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to grab a podium in the prestigious event here yesterdayOn a day of double delight for India Olympic silver medallist Sindhu staged a comefrombehind victory over Chinese Taipeis Tai Tzu Ying before Praneeth ended an agonising wait with a straightgame win over Indonesias Jonatan ChristieSindhu who won backtoback silver medals in the last two editions of the tournament to go with her two bronze edged past World No 2 and Asian Games gold medallist Tzu Ying 1221 2321 2119 in a pulsating contest that lasted 71 minutes inching closer to an elusive gold medal at the worlds Sindhu also became the most successful womens singles player at the World Championships after assuring herself of what will be her fifth medal She equalled Chinas Zhang Nings featWorld No 19 Praneeth who got the Arjuna Award this year notched up a 2422 2114 win over Asian Games gold medallist Christie in a 51minute battle joining Prakash Padukone in the medal list at the tournamentPadukone was the first Indian to win a mens singles World Championship medal mdash a bronze mdash in 1983 In the womens singles Sindhu showed tremendous grit after being blown away in the opening game edging past her fancied rival who still enjoys an upper hand 105 after 15 meetingsHad to be patientIn the first game I had given her a huge lead and couldnt recover I was prepared for her deception but my shots were going to midcourt The second was anybodys game and I kept fighting and won it The third went the same way she was leading but I had hope At 1818 I had to be patient There were long rallies and Im happy I win Sindhu said after the winWe keep playing each other so we know each others game I needed to be positive It was a really good match and taking out such close matches gives a big boost to the confidence I hope I can prepare well and come back stronger tomorrowSindhu will take on the winner of the match between Chinas Chen Yu Fei and Denmarks Mia Blichfeldt on Saturday I dont know whom I will play Chen Yufei is doing well in recent times and Mia beat Saina yesterday Anything can happen I just have to be there and focus on the match Sindhu saidPraneeth in top formIn the mens singles quarterfinals Praneeth who had won the Singapore Open in 2017 and finished runnersup at the Swiss Open earlier this year came into the tournament with a 12 headtohead against the Indonesian But the past record didnt matter as the Indian came out attacking to stave off a stiff challenge from Jonatan in the opening game and then blew him away in the second to find his place in history It feels awesome I still have matches so I have to focus on that and be fitter for tomorrow We can talk about what medal later on laughed Praneeth after the matchGopi sir told me not to attack and that changed the rhythm so I think those inputs helped me a lotAlso readPV Sindhu pulls off an upset over Tai Tzu Ying to enter World Championships semifinalsCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever