com ‘natn Sara Nene Row Sa Preah tare tft Tine tia Pret mn THE TIMES OF INDIA. Thailand Open: Saina Nehwal bows out, Sai Praneeth advances to final HYDERABAD: Saina Nehwal suffered a shock loss but Sal Praneeth kept the Indian challenge alive by reaching the men's singles final of the ‘Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok on Saturday. ‘Third seed Praneeth made short work of unseeded Pannawit Thongnuam of Thalland in just 36 minutes 211, 21-15, Thongnuam made headlines in Bangkok on Friday when he ousted compatriot and title favourite Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in the quarterfinal. But the Thai youngster ran out of gas against Praneeth on Saturday. The Singapore Open ‘champion gave no chance for the crowd favourite as he coasted home ‘comfortably, Praneeth will face Indonesia's Jonatan Christe in the final on Sunday. Fourth seed Jonatan, who defeated Joo Ven Soong of Malaysia 2-9, 21-18 in the semifinals, will be facing Praneeth forthe first time. Praneeth, who is playing his best badminton these days, is an overwhelming favourite forthe final However, the 24-year-old is expecting a tough final, "Today it was a good match and | am happy to teach the final. But| don't think final would be easy. | would be tough. !am looking forward to it and | hope to win ity Praneeth told Tol I he wins this would be the first Grand Prix Gold tite for Praneeth, puted aimee orphaiinaloncpn srr oven rescence tecom ‘natn Sara Nene Row Sa Preah tare tft Tine tia Former Thailand Open champion Saina was expected to reach the final without breaking much sweat but Busanan Ongbamrungphan upset the Indian's plans in straight games 2119, 21-8. ‘Saina, who dropped to No! In the world rankings on Thursday, squandered healthy leads in both the games to go down to World No Busanan. Before this match Saina enjoyed a 3-0 career record against Busanan but all that mattered litle as the local git! dominated the Indian in the latter part of both the games, Targeting the forehand comer of the Indian, Busanan troubled Saine repeatedly. Saina was cruising ahead at 17-3 In the first ‘game but committed a few unforced errors allowing her litle-xnown rival to comeback. Busanan closed the gap with a five- point burst from 13-17 to 18-17 and as the Indian looked bewildered she took the fist game at 2119, Saina, who lost a number of points hitting outside the lines, played cautiously avoiding unforced errors in the second game. At cone stage, she was leading 13-9 before Busanan came back strong to outclass the Indian, Busanan will face her countrymate and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon in the summit clash puted aimee orphaiinaloncpn srr oven rescence