Three and a half years after a 21-year-old Indian with a scraggly beard and obstinately untidy mop of hair provided the badminton world with a glimpse of his towering talent by laying low the king of dragons in the latter’s own lair, Kidambi Srikanth took the final step to the summit of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) men’s singles rankings.
Five-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan had shockingly ended up on the wrong side of a 21-19, 21-17 decision in the final of his home tournament, the China Open, on 16 November 2014, heralding the arrival of a fabulous young player from the land of Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand. But it was to take another 41 months before Srikanth could stake a claim to being spoken of in the same breath as those two legendary shuttlers.
As Thursday dawned to the unveiling of the BWF’s latest weekly rankings, the 25-year-old Ravupalem, Andhra Pradesh, native was safely installed as the second Indian player at the World No 1 position. Before him, Padukone had been thought of as the world’s top player in 1980, but the ranking was unofficial. It was Saina Nehwal who had the distinction of becoming the first Indian player to be ranked No 1 — in April 2015, shortly after winning the India Open.
File image of Kidambi Srikanth. Reuters
For Srikanth, it is significant that his elevation to the Numero Uno position came almost immediately after his first victory in five meetings over another former World No 1, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, in the final of the mixed team event of the ongoing Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast. It was almost like a changing of the guard, with the speedy, aggressive Indian outpacing and outhitting his ageing rival, ten years his senior.
It is just as well that the Indian team management chose to field Srikanth against Lee, despite his somewhat indifferent recent form and poor head-to-head record against the 35-year-old Malaysian. Srikanth was picked despite the fact that his close friend and sparring partner at the Gopichand Academy, HS Prannoy, had a much better career record against Lee – 2-2, with victories in their two most recent clashes, both in 2017.
Getting the nod to play the crucial match against Lee, in preference to Prannoy was a huge confidence-booster for Srikanth. Against Lee, he showed positive intent from the word “go” and never allowed his redoubtable antagonist to settle down. The Indian was all bustling aggression, controlling the net and getting openings galore to allow him to employ his deceptive leaping overhead smashes.
The Andhra lad’s signature stroke, right through his career, has been the overhead jump smash to the rival’s sideline. When he found that a few of his better opponents had begun to anticipate that stroke, he began twisting his torso a bit more and bringing the shuttle down occasionally across court to his rival’s backhand; and also varying the pace and angle of the stroke. This ploy made it extremely difficult for his opponents to anticipate the spot to which the overhead jump smash would be hit.
But for Srikanth to be able to play this stroke with that high level of deception, he had to be at peak fitness level; he needed that little extra speed to get into position early, so that he could watch his rival’s initial movement, and then hit his stroke. In many ways, Srikanth’s manner of hitting this overhead jump smash is akin to Roger Federer’s style of holding the racket head back for the forehand drive till the very last moment, and then going in the opposite direction to that taken by his rival.
Right through the first quarter of the current year, Srikanth lacked that extra edge in speed. He was guilty of succumbing to political pressure and playing in the Indian Nationals in November, despite complaining of a knee niggle in the course of his title win at the French Open, his second Superseries title of the European circuit, behind the Denmark Open. Rather than rest and rehabilitate the errant knee, he consented to play in Nagpur, and was beaten in the final by Prannoy.
Srikanth was forced to withdraw from the subsequent Far Eastern circuit that included the China and Hong Kong Opens, but the lure of the lucre induced him to play the season-ending Superseries grand finals in Dubai. With his speed and fitness continuing to be compromised, he lost all his three group matches in Dubai, to exit the competition without a whimper.
Just when he appeared to be back in the swing of things, he incurred a foot injury in late-January that blighted his performance on the international circuit. It is only during the ongoing Commonwealth Games that he appeared to be more like the player who had been so dominant in 2017, winning four Superseries titles, and ending runner-up in a fifth, the Singapore Open.
Against the three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee, Srikanth lifted his game to dizzy heights. He was positive and aggressive, and was able to hit his sizzling overhead jump smashes both along the sideline and across court, at will. The Malaysian veteran was never in the match, and Srikanth was full value for his 21-17, 21-14 success — which, coincidentally, was exactly the same scoreline as in the semi-final against Singaporean Loh Kean Yew.
And so, Srikanth has achieved one of his burning ambitions and emulated Nehwal’s feat of becoming World No 1. It has been a roller-coaster ride for the youngster who almost died of brain fever in July 2014 (he was found unconscious in a washroom at the Gopichand Academy, and spent a few days in the Intensive Care Unit of a corporate hospital in Hyderabad), a scant four months before his epochal victory over Lin Dan at the 2014 China Open.
“There has been a lot of talk about our women doing well, but now we have a men’s No 1,” said a proud Gopichand. “This will help Srikanth become more relaxed. Whatever happens from here, he will always know that he was ranked as the best in the world – that he has accomplished that goal. It will help him focus more on winning tournaments.”
Srikanth, of course, cannot take his pre-eminent spot in the rankings for granted. The man whom he deposed, reigning world champion, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, is expected back on the World Tour soon after a three-month long injury break; and the rangy, 6’ 4” man from Odense is so close behind the Indian that he can snatch the top position back with just one strong performance.
Axelsen, who has not played since retiring from the second round of the Indonesia Masters in the third week of January this year, hurt his ankle so badly that he had to pull out of two World Tour events, the India Open and the All England, and was also forced to skip the European Championships after undergoing surgery on the foot. With a loss of 1,660 points from his aggregate of 77,130, the Dane saw his tally fall to 75,470, which is some 1,400 points adrift of Srikanth’s total of 76,895 points.
In an intensely cramped and crowded year, in which the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, the Thomas/Uber Cups and World Championships fight for space with a large number of World Tour (formerly Superseries) tournaments, it will be far from easy for Srikanth to protect his World No 1 status. It would no doubt help his cause if he were to remain fit and healthy.
Updated Date: Apr 12, 2018 08:03 AM