About two weeks ago, Pullela Gopichand agreed to a rare request: allowing three academy trainees to skip a practice session for a movie. "It was Baahubali 2, so he couldn't refuse us," laughs B Sai Praneeth, who along with Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gurusai Dutt caught a first day, first show of the much-awaited Telugu blockbuster.
Coach Gopichand probably had a reason for allowing the concession. It's just been three weeks since Praneeth, now ranked 22 in the world, catapulted into history with a Singapore Open victory, becoming only the fourth Indian player to win a Superseries title.
But before Praneeth can gloat over his conquests, the next bunch of tournaments beckon, the World Championships in August being the most feted among them. "There's the Thailand GP Gold later this month and Superseries events in Indonesia and Australia and a good six weeks after that to prepare for the Worlds," he says. "If I'm fit, I know I can win." It will be Praneeth's maiden appearance at the event.
Despite having leapfrogged 18 spots to No. 10 in the race to make the Dubai year-ender -- where only the top eight players qualify to compete -- Praneeth isn't giving in to premature hopes. "Only four Superseries events are over, so it's still early to say anything," he says. "But it's definitely a goal."
Recent success hasn't changed much for Praneeth in real, tangible terms. Apart from Yonex, the 24 year-old has no sponsors. "Of course, it's disheartening if you have to fund your own tournament expenses even after winning a Superseries title." Last year, he spent about Rs 6 lakh for tournament and supplements. "Costs are even steeper when playing in Europe. It can be difficult to manage at times but I have no other option."
Brimming with natural talent and a wide array of strokes, Praneeth wasn't the most hardworking guy around until recently, vouches friend, academy stablemate and senior pro Kashyap over a laugh. "He has the game but was quite lazy when it came to practice sessions," Kashyap says. "He was the first to crib if a session was gruelling. Over the past few months though he's become a lot more focused and driven and the results are already showing."
The nature of sessions too has undergone a change in recent months. Mulyo Handoyo, best known for coaching Indonesian great Taufik Hidayat to an Olympic gold and brought aboard by Gopichand for help in singles, has altered training patterns to make sessions lengthier and focused on building endurance. "Instead of three sessions we have two long training sessions a day, which help us last in long matches and also make us fitter," Praneeth says. "It was the reason why I wasn't so tired despite playing long, close matches in Singapore."
For Praneeth, it's a single-point agenda. "Gopi sir doesn't talk to me about the game or strategy," he says. "He tells me all I need to do is remain fit. That's what I lack and need to work on."
With five Indian men's singles players in the top 30, the competition is stiff and the prospect of facing each other in international tournaments quite strong. "It's uncomfortable to play another Indian," says Praneeth, whose maiden Superseries title came at the expense of sparring partner Kidambi Srikanth. "It feels like a practice match but it's disappointing to lose. Also, you can't expect the coach's favour and no strategy really works since both players know each other so well. It's a relief to see someone from another country on the other side of the net."
Stunning wins over the likes of world beaters Hidayat and Lee Chong Wei have often been mitigated by Praneeth's surprise defeat to unheralded, lower-ranked journeymen in the past. A baffling pattern he's now managing to reverse, he feels. "I've lost many close matches," he says. "It's when you start winning those matches that the scenario changes and your confidence rises. That's what happened in Singapore.
"Earlier I used lose 19-21, now it's the opposite."