Swiss glory for gritty Kidambi Srikanth

Indian badminton’s rising star Kidambi Srikanth added another feather to his cap on Sunday when he won the men’s singles title at the Swiss Grand Prix Gold championships at Basel in Switzerland.

Srikanth is currently in the form of his life, and is considered one of India’s best shuttlers, especially after his stunning victory over the legendary Lin Dan in the China Open Superseries final last year.

Srikanth, seeded first, clinched a hard-fought final 21-15, 12-21, 21-14 against second seeded Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.

This victory comes on the heels of a disappointing first round loss at the All England Open Championships earlier this month, and Srikanth reckons this goes some way towards making amends for that loss.

“This makes up for the disappointing loss in Birmingham. I’m very happy to win this title after my first round exit in that event,” the 22-year-old world no. 4 said after his victory on Sunday.

Srikanth, who won the first game 21-15 before the Dane turned the tables in the second, says he let his focus slip a bit. “I played well in the first game, but I slipped up a bit and allowed him too much of a lead. I didn’t want to repeat my mistakes in the third game. I gathered myself and played well to win the match,” Srikanth said.

Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand was full of praise for his young ward.

“He played a very good game,” Gopi said. “He seemed very focused in the first game. He got a little defensive in the second, which let his opponent get away a little, but he then took charge in the third game.”

Gopi says there is scope for improvement in the lanky shuttler’s game.

“He is playing well currently, but can always do better. There are quite a few dominant players around the world, like Chen Long, Jan O. Jorgensen or Lin Dan. Srikanth needs to beat them on a consistent basis if he wants to become one of the top players around,” Gopi added.