Praneeth, who won bronze in the 2019 World Championships, faced Danish world No.2 Viktor Axelsen in the second round of the All England Open earlier in the year and seemed to be on the ascendancy for much of the first half of the match. He won the first game 21-15 and was leading 5-0 in the second when he seemed to slack off and went on to lose the match.
“It was a bit of a fitness issue for me in All England. If everything had gone smoothly and I was in a better shape I could have played much better," said Praneeth.
The 28-year-old Hyderabad player said that he lost almost three weeks in January due to testing positive before the Toyota Thailand Open.
“I just wasted three weeks of my time without any fault of mine. Mentally it is also very taxing. In every tournament, you have to get Covid tested multiple times. The results are sometimes inaccurate," said Praneeth.
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