Rising young shuttler B Sai Praneeth has injured his right shin muscle while playing in the ongoing 6th Tata Open India International Challenge here and is a doubtful starter for next week's 78th Senior Nationals to be held in New Delhi.
"I have hurt my shin muscle during my victory over my Taipei rival (Sheng-Jie Yang) yesterday (in the quarter finals) and it was paining a lot today when I played (against 3rd seed H S Prannoy) in the semi finals," said 21-year-old Praneeth after losing the game.
Prannoy defeated Andhra Pradesh's second seed Praneeth, who trains at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, 21-19 21-10 to enter the final.
Praneeth, who lost to eventual champion and India's highest ranked singles player in men - P Kashyap - in the quarter finals of the 77th senior nationals in Srinagar in October 2012, is to return home to attend to his injury.
"I would consult the physio before taking a call whether to play in the nationals (that start on December 16)," said the young player who is ranked 47th in the world and made waves when upsetting Hong Kong's world no. 4 Yun Hu in the Singapore Super Series in June.
"I am seeded 6th in the nationals," he added.
