B Sai Praneeth faltered at the final stage of Swiss Open as he lost 21-19, 18-21, 12-21 to world No.2 Shi Yuqi of China on Sunday.
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Basel:
Praneeth was in top form coming into the final as he absolutely outplayed Olympic champion Chen Long in the semi-final to set up the final date with Yuqi.
However, it came down to fitness and ability to carry on for longer on the court where Yuqi took the cake.
Despite starting on a high note and dominating Yuqi for half of the match, errors creeped in for Praneeth towards the second half of the match as Yuqi took the title.
This was Praneeth’s chance to bag his first title in two years and especially after the kind of form he was in throughout the tournament - he had not dropped a single game.
Praneeth was in top form coming into the final as he absolutely outplayed Olympic champion Chen Long in the semi-final to set up the final date with Yuqi.
However, it came down to fitness and ability to carry on for longer on the court where Yuqi took the cake.