Former World Championships bronze medallist Sai Praneeth announced his retirement on Monday(March 4). The 31-year-old shuttler, terminated the country’s 36-year-old drought of a World Championships medal in 2019. He achieved this after Prakash Padukone did the same in 1983. He was also honoured with the esteemed Arjuna Award in the same year.
“There are several ups and downs but I am happy with what I have achieved in my career. I know I could have done more but the fact that I will be remembered as one of the best singles players is quite satisfying,” stated Praneeth. Though he said that he’s happy for whatever he had achieved till now in his career but he also confessed that his biggest regret is not winning an Olympic medal. “I have won some good tournaments. But my biggest regret is not winning an Olympic medal” said Praneeth, who is considered one of the artists of the game.
In recent years, Praneeth’s progress hadn’t been good due to its regular injury issues which initially pushed him to step aside from the game. He officially shared a lengthy note on X(Formerly known as Twitter) to announce his decision and to bid adieu to the sport as a player.
He still has a lot to offer and it will be interesting to see how he contributes to the game for whatever new role he takes up in future although he is now moving to USA to take up a coaching job with a club in North Carolina.