India's Kidambi Srikanth showcased some real guts, perseverance and mettle as he earned glory on Saturday June 13 to make it to the Indonesia Open badminton final. Srikanth, 24, will now be taking on Kazumasa Sakai of Japan, who defeated HS Prannoy earlier in their semi finals match.
It was a victory worth watching again and again for Srikanth. It came in three sets, with the final score being 21-15, 14-21, 24-22. The opponent was not easy. Standing on the other end was South Korea's Son Wan Ho.
The first game looked a cake-walk for Srikanth -- who won 21-15 over Son. The only point where Son looked a bit dangerous was when he came close 10-12 from 6-11 but failed to take advantage.
In the second set, 29-year-old Son made a come back after trailing 4-6 to rely on his deft net-game to equalise one game apiece with a 21-14 win.
The final game remained stiff till the very end with none of the shuttlers giving any space to the opponents. Son edged ahead with a 13-10 lead but Srikanth kept firing winners to equalise at the 14-point mark and even held a point lead.
But Son didn't flinch and kept rallying hard till the end to find crucial points. With the match reaching a tipping point in terms of intensity at 20-all, both the shuttlers felt the heat. While Srikanth banged a smash at the net, Son erred in hitting long. But the Indian kept his nerve to edge past Son and win 24-22.
In the final, Srikanth will eye his third Superseries title after victories in the 2014 China Open and the 2015 India Open.
He will also be looking to emulating what compatriot Sai Praneeth achieved earlier this month -- win the Thailand Open tournament.
Prannoy, who defeated six-time champion Lee Chong Wei in the second round before taming the reigning Olympic, World and Asian Champion Chen Long in the quarter-finals, meanwhile, got defeated 21-17, 26-28, 18-21 by the unseeded Kazumasa, earlier in the day.
(with IANS inputs)
