B Sai Praneeth pulls out of Thomas Cup citing lack of fitness

sai praneeth

World Championship bronze medalist B Sai Praneeth said that he will not participate at the Thomas and Uber Cup in Denmark, slated from October 3, citing lack of fitness.

Praneeth said that lack of proper fitness makes it difficult for him to play at the prestigious team event.

“Sad that I am not going to be part of the Indian squad for the Thomas Cup. But I am experiencing discomfort in my right knee. Though I started training from August 7, this problem is persisting. That’s the reason why I pulled out of Thomas Cup,” Sai Praneeth told the Times of India.

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Srikanth may lead India’s Thomas Cup team in Praneeth’s absence

Meanwhile, Praneeth said that he was looking forward to feature in the Asian leg of the BWF World Tour after the European tournaments in Denmark.

“Most probably I would be competing in the Asian leg events in November. I need to take care of my fitness as I have to perform well in the Olympic qualification events scheduled to be held from January,” the 28-year-old said.

In Praneeth’s absence, Kidambi Srikanth may take over as the leader of India’s Thomas Cup team with support from senior P Kashyap and junior Lakshya Sen and Shubhankar Dey.

Earlier, PV Sindhu had pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons but later decided to join the team after request from Badminton Association of India (BAI) chief Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is trying to find a way to start the camp so that coaches can assemble shuttlers ahead of the September 17 deadline (the last date to announce teams is September 18).

The twice-postponed Thomas and Uber Cup finals, the men’s and women’s world team championships, will be the first international tournament since the pandemic halt the sport in March.

Also read: Badminton at Athens Olympics 2004