Kidambi Srikanth bagged his third Superseries title of the year on Sunday with a complete demolition of Lee Hyun Il in the Denmark Superseries Premier final in Odense.
The Danish Open crown, which also made the 24-year-old from Guntur the fourth most successful men’s singles shuttler in Superseries history with five titles, is enough to prove that Srikanth is currently among the top stars of world badminton.
But more than reaching his fourth Superseries final in the calendar year and the second spot in the Race to Dubai rankings, one thing that stood out for Srikanth in Odense was the way he managed to tame world champion Viktor Axelsen in the quarter-finals after losing the opening game.
A few days before that encounter, former world No 1 Lee Chong Wei had spoken to a Malaysian newspaper about how he feels that Axelsen and Japan’s Kenta Momota, who is making a comeback to international circuit after a year’s ban for gambling, could be the next big rivalry in world badminton since he and China’s Lin Dan are on their way out.
Given Srikanth’s success this year, it would have surprised many that the Malaysian legend opted for a Japanese player who is making a comeback and is still ranked outside the world’s top-100 ahead of the Indian as Axelsen’s biggest rival.
Breaking the defensive mould
There is no doubting Momota’s talent but it would be fair to say that the newly crowned Denmark Open champion will definitely be in the mix. The quarter-final against Axelsen should be a good enough indicator as to why Srikanth cannot be ignored.
No one in world badminton could deny the kind of talent Srikanth possesses, but many people had doubted his temperament and consistency over the years. While his attacking style is a treat to watch, the 24-year-old has struggled when pushed out of his comfort zone in the past.
It was even evident in the World Championship quarter-finals against Son Wan Ho, a player Srikanth had defeated twice coming into the tournament. But in Glasgow, the Korean pushed his opponent on the back-foot from the start.
By his own admission, Srikanth needed time to figure out a way to break the defensive mould he found himself caught in due to the initial nervousness going into a big encounter. He even looked devoid of ideas on several occasions despite the coaching staff telling him to change the pace. And by the time he actually managed to do that, it was too little too late.
It was probably the same problem that had seen the strapping Axelsen dominating the last three meetings between the two. The Dane, with those booming smashes and an aggressive attitude on court, had been successfully unsettling Srikanth’s game plan, something he managed to do even in the first game of the quarter-finals in Odense.
Maturing with every tournament
But to Srikanth’s credit he showed enough mettle to grind out points when under pressure. Instead of opting for an all out attack, something he has been guilty in the past, he was patient enough to wait for Axelsen to make mistakes in testing conditions at the business end of the second game.
He was duly rewarded for that strategy as a physically and mentally exhausted Axelsen disintegrated in the decider. “I really wanted to stay there until the end,” Srikanth had said after the match. “I gave him the early lead in the first game, but in the second game I didn’t give him that chance. You can’t afford to give the top players a chance.”
He added, “I’ve been playing well in the last couple of months. Unfortunately I lost in the quarter-finals of the World Championships. I lost to Viktor in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open, so I wanted to break the quarter-finals barrier.”
Given the level of competition in men’s singles, clearing that last-eight barrier in every tournament consistently won’t be easy for any player on the circuit.
But there is no denying the fact that Srikanth is maturing with every tournament and seems to be at ease with the pre-tournament favourite tag, which only adds to the pressure of expectations.
He did well to play those expectations down while speaking about his chances in the French Superseries, which starts on Tuesday with Srikanth opening his campaign against the unpredictable Rajiv Ouseph.
And if he plays true to his form, we can expect another chapter of the budding rivalry between him and Axelsen in the summit clash on Sunday.
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