On October 22, K. Srikanth won the Denmark Open, nailing unseeded Korean gate-crasher Lee Hyun-il in straight games, the second Indian to win the tournament after Prakash Padukone. Srikanth, who picked up a badminton racquet for the first time in 2001, joined famed coach P. Gopi Chand’s academy in Hyderabad in 2007.
As things stand, Srikanth is World number 4 — his best in more than two years — and heads the BWF Superseries rankings. Based on the performances in nine of 13 Superseries events, Srikanth seems to have virtually sealed his place in the eight-player invitational BWF World Superseries Finals in Dubai in December.
What led to the golden run?
Winner of three BWF Superseries titles from four finals in the last six months, Srikanth has proved that his stunning upset of Chinese great Lin Dan in the final of the 2014 China Open and the subsequent rise to the World No. 3 spot in 2015 were not flukes. Those performances were the results of relentless hard work and a steady approach with an eye to iron out the rough edges. However, there was a lean phase when the competition proved too hot for him. Srikanth went without a Superseries title in 2016 and had to deal with an ankle injury in the second half of the year. His ranking plummeted to No. 31. Finally, all the systematic training aimed at making a strong comeback looked good to pay off. He realised that being sound only in attack was not enough; defensive skills needed to be honed too.
How did he fight back?
As an unseeded player in the Singapore Open in April, Srikanth fought his way to the final where he ran into his nemesis and playing partner, B. Sai Praneeth. In what was a repeat outcome of the Syed Modi Grand Prix final in January, Praneeth stopped Srikanth. In the Sudirman Cup, a mixed team event, Srikanth expectedly went down to Olympic champion Chen Long in straight games. The tame loss gave no indication of how determined Srikanth was to bounce back. In June, the $10,00,000 Indonesia Open — the year’s richest Superseries event — saw the unseeded Indian knock out fourth seed Dane Jan O Jorgensen and second seed Korean Son Won-ho to claim the title. Hungry for more, Srikanth continued to ride the wave of success in the $750,000 Australia Open. What added to Srikanth’s confidence was the victory over Praneeth in the quarterfinals. After all, Srikanth had lost five of the last six encounters to Praneeth. Two elite Superseries titles in two weeks and Srikanth was well and truly back in the league where he belonged.
What happened in Denmark?
Srikanth started his campaign in the Denmark Open — jointly the second richest event with the Australia Open — cautiously. In the pre-quarterfinals, he was stretched by Korea’s Jeon Hyeok-jin who battled from 1-10 and 12-19 in the deciding game. Srikanth managed to cross the line at 21-18. This proved a timely wake-up call ahead of the clash against Viktor Axelsen. Down by a game and trailing 17-19, Srikanth won the next three points and eventually clinched it at 22-20. In the decider, it was Srikanth all the way. He raced away to a 21-7 win as the lanky Dane struggled with the ‘drift’ in the playing hall. In the finals, he beat Lee Hyun-il easily.
In the midst of all the success Srikanth has tasted this year, it is also pertinent to remember the inconsistency of all the leading singles players in both sections. Unlike the not-so-distant past when Lee Chong Wei dominated the men’s field, no player has been able to stamp his authority for long.
The top 10 to 15 players are capable of beating one another. In addition, the scheduling of the elite events is such that recovery has become a major factor for the players. Growing injury concerns have also pushed back several illustrious names and allowed the fitter ones to come to the fore.
How’s his future shaping up?
In such a scenario, should Srikanth remain injury-free and build on his confidence, there is every possibility of this 24-year-old establishing himself as the man to beat. During the fine run in the Superseries this year, Srikanth has lost only to higher-ranked players. Two years ago, he let a similar opportunity slip by letting the pressure get to him. Now, as a more mature contender, a confident Srikanth is expected to conquer new bastions. In a country that has seen Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu take turns to enthral home fans for over a decade, the man from Guntur has proved that there is more to Indian badminton than the Hyderabad duo.
