All England Open 2018: “Matches like these will give me a lot of confidence,” says Kidambi Srikanth after tough opener

What’s the story?

After coming back from the brink in his 7-21, 21-14, 22-20 first round win over Brice Leverdez at the All England Open 2018 in Birmingham on Wednesday, the India No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth is optimistic that such tough matches will boost his confidence level.

The Pullela Gopichand protégé also explained that his lack of match play in the past couple of months is the reason why he hasn’t been able to find his rhythm as smoothly as he did last year when he won a staggering four Superseries titles.

In a video released by the Yonex All England on Twitter, the World No. 2 has said, “Haven’t really played too many tournaments in the last few months. So, matches like these will definitely give me a lot of confidence.”

What. A. Match! 🔥🔥🔥 @srikidambi and @BriceLeverdez1 tore the house down in Birmingham, but it's the Indian player who moves on to the next round!📹 Reaction👇 pic.twitter.com/bDKLA3M8tb

— Yonex All England (@YonexAllEngland) March 14, 2018

In case you didn’t know

Srikanth has a chance to become the World No. 1 the next week if he can win the trophy at the All England Open. He rose one spot in the world rankings released this week to match his career-high ranking of No. 2 and is now just 1435 points adrift of the top-ranked Viktor Axelsen.

However, Srikanth’s record at this prestigious tournament is shabby and it would need a monumental effort from the Indian to achieve it for he has never made it past the second round.

The heart of the matter

Srikanth was a pale shadow of himself in the opening game against the 23rd ranked Frenchman and the latter completely outplayed him to take it 21-7. The Indian stormed back in the second game and found his usual touch and aggression to set up a decider.

However, things were not easy for the Indian even after building an early lead of 11-6. The wily Frenchman levelled matters at 12-12. The game continued to be even until 19-19 after which the lower-ranked shuttler had a match point, which Srikanth erased through a smart lob.

The Frenchman then pushed the shuttle wide on the next two points to send Srikanth into Round 2.

What’s next?

Srikanth plays his second round late on Thursday against the 42nd ranked Huang Yuxiang of China. The Indian leads 2-0 in their head-to-head meetings.

Author’s take

It is heartening to hear these words from Srikanth. Having watched his dominant display on the circuit last season, it was disappointing to see him struggle so much in his first match at the All England Open, especially when he has a relatively easy path.

The sooner Srikanth finds his range, the better it is for him as well as Indian badminton.