B Sai Praneeth finishes runner-up at Swiss Open 2019

B Sai Praneeth finished runner-up at the Swiss Open 2019 after losing the men's singles final to World No. 2 Shi Yuqi in Basel, Switzerland on Sunday.

Swiss Open Final: B Sai Praneeth went down fighting to Shi Yuqi of China. (Source: PTI File Photo)

Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth finished runner-up at the Swiss Open 2019 after losing the men’s singles final to World No. 2 Shi Yuqi in Basel, Switzerland on Sunday.

Praneeth, who had earlier toppled world number five and reigning Olympic champion Chen Long in the semifinal, went down 21-19 18-21 12-21 to the Chinese in the summit-clash that went on for one hour, eight minutes.

Shi Yuqi 🇨🇳 prevails in a thrilling match versus the Swiss Open revelation Sai Praneeth B. 🇮🇳 🏸 #HSBCBWFbadminton pic.twitter.com/IIJtNuMk0N

— BWF (@bwfmedia) 17 March 2019

Making his first final appearance after two years, the World No. 22 started on a confident note, going into the mid-game break with a slender advantage. Shi Yuqi, however, made a brilliant comeback from 12-18 to level the match at 19-19 before losing the opening game to the Indian shuttler.

Praneeth held his nerves at the start of a closely-contested second game, showed positive signs to win four consecutive points and move up 13-10. The Chinese opponent, however, won three straight points to force the clash into decider.

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The third and final game was somewhat one-sided as a tired Praneeth failed to catch up to the top seed’s level, eventually going down with a massive difference of nine points.

The last time Praneeth featured in a final was which when he clinched the Thailand Open title in June 2017.