Vladivostok, Russia: Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy won the gold medal in Russia Open Grand Prix 2016 in the mixed doubles category at Vladivostok, Russia on Sunday.
They defeated Vladimir Ivanov and Valeria Sonokina of Russia in a very close battle by 21-17, 21-19. In the second game Russian pair was leading 19-18 but Sikki & Pranaav held their nerves to clinch the title.
It is important to note that Vladimir Ivanov is currently the All England champion in men doubles.
Sikki and Pranaav made their plans to attack weaker female opponent which worked well.
This is Pranaav and Sikki’s second successive Grand Prix title in two months. Last month they won the gold medal in Brazil Yonex Open tournament. Pranaav and Sikki have recently started playing together and were ranked 65 in the world. With the win in these two tournaments their ranking will also go up.
After this they will be representing India in upcoming tournaments in Holland and Denmark.
Sikki and Pranaav both are training under Malaysian coach Tan and Pullela Gopichand, India’s chief national coach.
Ludhiana badminton academy has decided to honour Pranaav when he visits Ludhiana in the coming days.
