'Praneeth has quality but needs consistency'

Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand on Sunday said his ward B Sai Praneeth needs to be consistent and hoped the win at Singapore Open will take his game to another level. It was the first time that two Indians were playing in the final of a superseries event and Praneeth made it special for him, clinching the title with a 17-21 21-17 21-12 win over K Srikanth in the summit clash of the Singapore Open. "I am very proud of them (Praneeth, Srikanth), they reaching the finals. It is a big tournament to win. He is still young. He has many years ahead of him. It will hopefully give him the confidence to play at another level," Gopichand said.

"If you look at his career, he has some big wins. He has beaten Taufik, Lee Chong Wei, he has beaten many of them, so he has the quality but he needs consistency," he added. Heaping praise on Praneeth, Gopichand said: "It takes a special character to win a tournament. Not many have been able to win that. I hope he qualifies for the Word Championship. In fact, Srikanth also have a chance." Praneeth had clinched the Canada Open last year and reached the Syed Modi Grand prix Gold this year in January. However, he hurt his shoulder during the final. Asked how did he transform his game, Gopichand said: "He basically just worked and trained for last two months, there is nothing specific. I think game wise he has many things going for him but he has to focus on his training. Post PBL, he has been training and it has really helped him."