Jaipur: It was so near yet so far for Pranay Katta. The talented city shuttler missed the title by a whisker and had to be settled for a silver medal at the Yonex-Sunrise All India Senior Ranking Badminton tournament which concluded in Chennai on Thursday.In an exciting men’s singles summit clash, unseeded Pranay went down fighting against his regular practice partner Dhruv Negi, who won 20-18, 14-16, 15-11.The clash between the two Bengaluru-based Centre for Sports Excellence trainees lived up to the expectations with both the players giving their best for the coveted title.Dhruv clinched the extended first game 20-18 but Pranay bounced back gallantly by claiming the second game 16-14 to force the decider.The third and deciding game was a hard-fought affair with fortunes fluctuating with each passing moment.In the end, Dhruv kept his nerves intact to grab the decider 15-11 to pocket the all-important men’s singles title.Pranay had his chances but could not capitalize on them and missed the crown narrowly.On the way to reaching the final, Pranay toppled a couple of seeds. In the Round of 16, Pranay stunned eighth seeds K Lokesh Reddy 7-15, 15-10, 16-14, while in the semis he upset twelfth seed Ansh Negi 15-13, 7-15, 15-8.
