With just 4 months to go for the qualification period for Rio 2016 to end, there is little doubting that each tournament holds additional siginificance for all the players participating.The same holds for India’s highest ranked Men’s Singles player Kidambi Srikanth.
The 22-year-old Guntur-born player, who is presently ranked 9th in the world, certainly needs some early momentum if he desires to hit peak form in the lead-up to the gala event.
Srikanth has begun the season well and was perhaps one of the best players on view in an otherwise torrid season for the Bengaluru TopGuns in the Premier Badminton League and on Sunday,will look to win his 1st crown of 2016 in his 3rd straight final at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow.
The Indian, who is also the top seed, has looked good in the tournament so far, having lost just a solitary game to Goh Soon Huat of Malaysia and will play Huang Yuxinag of China, who has defeated the likes of Parupalli Kashyap and fellow countrymen Shi Yuqi in the semis en route to book a place in the final.
So can Srikanth clinch his miden Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold title? Only time will tell.
Match: Kidambi Srikanth(IND) vs Hunag Yuxiang(CHN)
Venue: Babu Banarasi Das Stadium, Lucknow
Time: Around 6:30 P.M IST
Head-to-Head: 1st meeting
Prediction: With a sizeable crowd backing him Srikanth should take the moneky off his back finally and lift his maiden crown, by winning in straight games.
