Srikanth bags Indonesia Superseries Premier title
SUPER SHOW The Indian shuttler beats Japanese Kazumasa Sakai in straight games to win in Jakarta
Kidambi Srikanth clinched the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier title in style at Jakarta on Sunday, the World No 22 outclassing Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai 21-11, 21-19 in a match that lasted just 37 minutes.
Srikanth, 24, playing his second straight Superseries event final after finishing runner-up to Sai Praneeth in the Singapore Open in April, started off on an aggressive note. The Pullela Gopichand academy trainee cruised to a 11-8 lead in the first game. There weren’t too many smashes, but his crosscourt returns and deft touch at the net forced Sakai into unforced errors.
The Guntur-born player, who saved match point to knock out Korea’s world No 1 Son Wan Ho in the semifinals, maintained an icecool approach as he stretched the margin to 10 points. He conceded just three points before wrapping up the game 21-11 as Sakai struggled to find answers to Srikanth’s neat drop shots.
In the second game, however, Sakai made a brilliant comeback as he sent his shots to either flanks, forcing Srikanth to change his approach while the Japanese kept producing power smashes.
Shots to the back court also earned him a couple of points with Srikanth misjudging to hand over easy points. Sakai, who was not able to open up more than a two-point lead at any point in the first game, led by five at the break as the match seemed poised for the deciding third game.
However, in a brilliant comeback of sorts, Srikanth took just 10 points to earn the lead back as he regained his rhythm and held fort. With him executing the drop-shots as calmly as he did in the first game, it wasn’t long before he levelled at 19-points each. Sakai somehow managed to stay in the game till that point, but Srikanth finished things off with two brilliant smashes, one clipping the net on its way while the other an unplayable one.
This was Srikanth’s third Superseries title. He had won the China Open in 2014 and the India Open a year later and lost the Singapore Open to his training partner. There was a chance for an all-Indian final in Jakarta as well but Srikanth’s 21-15 18-21 24-22 win over Son was not matched by HS Prannoy. Sakai sent Prannoy packing with a 17-21 28-26 21-18 win.
I think that was the turning point of the match. Coming over that deficit changed the course of the game and helped me gain confidence to win the match.
I think it was a fantastic game for me. I started off well in the first game but he was playing well in the second game, leading 116 at the break and fighting it out.
It has been a while since I won a super series tournament.