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K Srikanth might be revelling in the glow of his recent Grand Prix Gold win, but the youngster believes he still has a long way to go. The 20-year-old became the first Indian men’s singles player to win a GP Gold tournament outside India when he won the Thailand Open earlier this month.
“I have to work on my overall game,” Srikanth says. “I want to win Superseries tournaments, but I have to improve for that.”
Srikanth’s rise through the ranks is the quickest among his contemporaries. While most Indian players take their time in transitioning from the junior to the senior level, the Guntur lad made an effortless transition, and in his young senior career has already claimed some big scalps. With wins over the likes of Yunus Alamsyah (Indonesia), his Indian seniors Anup Sridhar and Ajay Jayaram, Suppanyu Avihingsanon (Thailand), Jan O Jorgensen (Denmark) and Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand), Srikanth has shown he isn’t intimidated by big names. Ponsana and Jorgensen are top-ten players, and his victories over them are indicative of a player confident of his own abilities.
In the Thailand Open final, Ponsana seemed rattled by Srikanth’s attacking game, making several uncharacteristic errors on even his basic strokes. The Indian seemed unafraid to go for his shots, scoring off several jump smashes, and left the veteran Thai befuddled. Of his Thailand Open win, Srikanth says: “Right through the tournament I just wanted to play my own game. I’m an attacking player, and I wanted to stick to my strengths. Before the final I was nervous. Ponsana made a few mistakes; I think he was under pressure because he was playing in front of his home crowd.”
Srikanth took up the sport as a nine-year-old in his hometown Guntur. His elder brother Nandagopal played at the local stadium, and Srikanth picked up the game by watching him. “We didn’t have a good coach,” says Srikanth. “There was somebody who taught us the basics, but it wasn’t a high level. It was only after I shifted to Gopi Sir’s academy in 2009 that I improved.”
At the World Juniors in 2011, he made the fourth round; he went on to win the Maldives International last year, beating then-world junior champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli in the final. The rise since then has been meteoric: three successive semifinal performances at the Bahrain International, Macau GP Gold, and Tata International; followed by a quarterfinal at the Syed Modi GPG in late 2012.
This year has been even better: a first-round defeat of fourth seed Jan O Jorgensen at the India Open; a third round at the Malaysia GPG, and victory at the Thailand Open GPG. The strong showing over the last two years has seen his ranking rise to a career-best 41.
Gopi, who Srikanth considers his role model, was all praise for the youngster when he won the Thailand Open. “It’s a very impressive win,” Gopi said. “I didn’t expect it to be so easy for him. His biggest assets are his creative game and deception. He has self-belief and is not afraid. This is the kind of result you’d want from a 19 or 20-year-old… in that sense, it was not a surprise. Overall, the last few months have been good for Indian badminton.”
Srikanth’s top performances (last two years):
Thailand Open GP Gold (2013): Winner
Malaysia Open GP Gold (2013): 3rd round
India Open Superseries (2013): 2nd round
Syed Modi International GP Gold (2012): Quarterfinals
Tata Open International Challenge (2012): Semifinals
Macau Open GP Gold (2012): Semifinals
Bahrain International Challenge (2012): Semifinals
Maldives International Challenge (2012): Winner
