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 told PTI.
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.
"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.
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