This will be the first in a series of player profiles. I have chosen Kidambi Srikanth because both he and Indian badminton in general is on the way forward. I know that they have put a lot of money and effort into badminton, which is now starting to pay off.
Let's get started...
Name: Kidambi Srikanth
Nationality: Indian.
Born: February 7, 1993. (Age 24)
Srikanth
Srikanth is currently under the wings of a former Indian super-star, Pullela Gopichand, who is the one of only 2 Indian players to win the prestigious All England title. The other being the legendary Prakash Padukone.
Gobichand owns and operate Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, India. He have also received numerous civil awards from the Indian government.
Gopichand
Back to Kadambi Srikanth :) (Gopichand will get a post devoted to him at a later point)
He started his professional career back in 2011, where he did very well in the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in Isle of Man, winning Silver in Mixed Doubles and bronze in Men's Doubles.
His first senior title came in 2012, where he beat the then World Junior champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli in the final of 2012 Maldives International Challenge tournament. While winning a tournament on the "Challenger Tour" might not seem a great accomplishment, please keep in mind that Srikanth was not even 20 years old at the time.
Only a year later, in 2013, he won the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold event, which at that time was ranked just below the Super Series tournaments. Srikanth beat the back then world #8 Boonsak Ponsana in two straight sets, a victory that made headlines withing the world badminton community.
A proud Srikanth
Ponsana was back then (as his world ranking suggested) an established name in the world of badminton.
Throughout the 2014 season, Srikanth continued his development and made several good results. An absolute highlight of his season was, when he beat the legendary - the master himself - the one and only... Lin Dan. Not only did he beat him, but he beat him IN China in the final of the 2014 China Open Super Series Premier.
Kidambi Srikanth vs Lin Dan in the 2014 China Open Super Series Premier Final
A REMARKABLE result for a young and up-coming player, in fact, it would be a remarkable result for ANY player on the world circuit. Keep in mind that Lin Dan is 5 time world champion and 2 times Olympic champion and considered by many - including myself - to be the best player EVER to play the game. You will get to hear much much more about Lin Dan on this blog :-)
During the 2015 season, Srikanth became the first Indian male to win gold at the 2015 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold by defeating Viktor Axelsen in the final. And later he also won the India Open Super Series tournament - also beating Victor Axelsen in the final.
He continued his good performance in 2016, reaching the quaterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics, but was defeated by Lin Dan in 3 sets, barely losing the 3rd set by 18-21.
So fair his 2017 campaign have seen him win the 2017 Indonesian Open, beating Japan's Kazumasa Sakai in 2 straight sets. First time ever for an India male to win the Indonesian Open.
A happy Kadambi Srikanth after winning the 2017 Indonesia Open.
Tomorrow Srikanth will face Chen Long from China in the 2017 Australian Open final, a match I will cover on this blog tomorrow :)
I don't know how much I believe Srikanth to be able to win this one though, Chen Long is after all current Olympic champion. Not to downplay Srikanths ability but Chen Long can be extremely hard to beat and is by some regarded as the best male player currently on the tour. I guess it will depend on Chen Long's preparation to the world Championship, which is just a few month ahead.
It's often the case that the very top players start to prepare months in advance, causing their form to drop slightly as they tend to focus more on building up muscle mass and then 3-4 weeks before a big event, they peak.
I predict a 2 set win to Chen Long :D
All 5 finals from Australia can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/user/bwf
I would like to end this post by expressing my deepest respect to Indian badminton, I really like seeing the results of all their hard work. Having said that, I must also admit that personally I am not a big fan of their playing style - as polished as it may seem. I am more into the fast attacking style that especially South East Asian players often have.
While we wait for tomorrows final let's enjoy highlights of Srikanths win at the 2014 China Open.
As an added bonus, the co-commentator is Morten Frost, the Danish legend from the 80's
Pretty much everything he say in regards to badminton, can be considered legit information.
I will be most happy to answer any badminton related questions you might have :-)