B Sai Praneeth defeated favourite Kidambi Srikanth 17-21, 21-17, 21-12 to lift the Singapore Open on Sunday in a 54-minute match.
The win also marked Sai Praneeth’s maiden Superseries title win. This was the first time that two Indian players faced off in a final of a Superseries tournament.
Srikanth was running away with the contest in the first game, which he won 21-17, and raced to a 6-1 lead in the second. From there, Sai Praneeth launched an extraordinary fightback, regularly getting the better of his opponent at the net and through cross-court shots with his forehand.
Srikanth was culpable of making too many unforced errors with his net play, and failed to find an answer to Sai Praneeth’s smashes. While the momentum oscillated back and forth between the players during the first two games, Sai Praneeth was in imperious touch during the third, pocketing the game in just 16 minutes.
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