The 24-year-old from Hyderabad, who had clinched the Canada Open last year, came out with a well sorted strategy and executed it brilliantly to completely blow away his opponent in the opening game. In the second game, Praneeth continued to dominate the proceedings and zoomed to a 9-1 lead. The Korean managed to reduce the deficit to 4-10 before the Indian entered the break with a 11-4 lead.