Former world championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth showed nerves of steel to outwit in-form HS Prannoy in a thrilling three-setter as Telangana blanked Kerala 3-0 to win the coveted mixed team badminton gold at the National Games here on Monday.

Enduring a dip in form for over a year now, Tokyo Olympian Praneeth finally had something to cheer about as he dug deep into his reservoir to see off Kerala’s top shuttler Prannoy 18-21 21-16 22-20 to give Telangana a 2-0 lead.