SRIKANTH TRIUMPHS IN PARIS
Kidambi Srikanth celebrates after winning the men’s final against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto at the French Open Super Series badminton tournament in Paris on Sunday. This was the Indian shuttler’s second Super Series win in two weeks.
NEWDELHI: For Kidambi Srikanth, 2017 is turning out to be a career transforming year with the height of success increasing with every tournament. With a 34-minute facile win in the French Open final on Sunday, the Pullela Gopichand protege has now gone on to win as many as four Superseries crowns till date this year — a landmark no other Indian has achieved — and sixth overall.
Following his runners-up show at the Singapore Open in April, where he lost to compatriot B Sai Praneeth, Srikanth has gone on to claim the men’s singles titles at Indonesia, Australia, Denmark and now France.
On Sunday, the eighth-seeded Srikanth drubbed Japanese Kenta Nishimoto 21-14, 21-13 to win the final in Paris after clinching the summit clash exactly a week back in Odense. In the final Superseries of the year outside Asia, Srikanth, typically, was all calm and poise. He attacked from the start, with his smashes as well as at the net, tapping in drops when he needed to, for quick points.
Nishimoto gave a tough fight to the Guntur-born early on to take a 9-5 lead. But significantly, Srikanth managed to turn the tables and get the lead (11-9) at the break. Some beautiful backhand crosscourt drops followed by fearsome smashes were enough for the new badminton star from India to seal the first game with ease in only 16 minutes.
Srikanth stepped on the gas and took the lead in the second game right from the start. It was only a matter of time before Srikanth closed the game and match.