Calcutta: Patna has been a lucky place for the new women's national badminton champion Rituparna Das.

In 2008 when she won the sub-junior nationals, a highly impressed Pullela Gopichand took her to his Hyderabad academy. And in 2017, it's the same place where the shuttler from Haldia won her maiden national title.

On Tuesday, she was third time lucky, after finishing runner-up in 2013 and 2014 losing to PV Sindhu and Ruthvika Shivani respectively. She did not play the 2015 nationals due to injury.

And on Thursday, Rituparna said from Hyderabad that she is not going overboard after winning the title. "Gopi Sir told me, 'Good job. But you have to win international titles.' So there is no time to celebrate. I reached Hyderabad on Wednesday and I am back in courts practising from Thursday itself."

So, 2017 will see Rituparna playing international tournaments. "This year onwards, I will be focusing on international tournaments... I am not thinking about winning an Olympic medal right now."