One of the best tournaments of my career: Praneeth on World C'ships bronze

His dream run ending with a World Championship bronze, India's ace men's singles shuttler B Sai Praneeth on Saturday described the feat as one of the best of his international career.

The 27-year-old from Hyderabad, who was conferred with the Arjuna Award this year, lost 13-21 8-21 to defending champion and world no. 1 Kento Momota of Japan in a lop-sided semifinal to settle for bronze.

"This was one of my best tournaments that I ever had in my career. There are lots of learning and positives to take. I think the recent performances have been good," Praneeth told reporters.

It was a rare achievement for Praneeth, who became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to win a medal in the prestigious tournament.

Prakash Padukone was the first to win a men's singles World Championships medal -- a bronze -- in the 1983 edition.

Praneeth, who had finished runners-up at Swiss Open early this year, admitted he just couldn't find the wherewithal to put pressure on Momota during the semifinal contest.

"Momota was varying the strokes. I was pushing the pace but I wasn't getting the result. I was getting tired. I didn't know what to do. I was blank. I was attacking but a few strokes went out," he said.

"I couldn't think anything except hitting the strokes and he was taking all the shots and I was hitting the net too often."