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K Srikanth‘s stunning victory in the final of the Thailand Open marks a notable moment in the Indian badminton story.
What was remarkable was not just that he won the title, but that he won it in straight games over one of the craftiest contemporary players – Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, and that too, on his opponent’s turf. The victory marks him out as one of the strongest prospects of the emerging crop of men’s singles players worldwide.
“The Thailand Open is a very impressive win,” his coach Pullela Gopichand told this writer. “I didn’t expect it to be so easy for him. He has had a steady rise, but that what you expect from someone who is 18 or 19. His biggest assets are his creativity and deception, and his self-belief. He’s not afraid.”
Srikanth, younger brother of Indian doubles international K Nandagopal, has perhaps had the quickest rise among his contemporaries. His victory at the Maldives International last year was an early sign of his ability at the international level, but it was at the India Open earlier this year that he scalped his first big victim – no less than top-ten player Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark. At Thailand, he was in supreme form – winning the title without dropping a game in any of his six matches. Along the way, he got the better of some stiff competition, besting Soo Hwang Jong (Korea) in the third round and former India Open winner Son Wan Ho (also of Korea) in the quarter-finals.
Srikanth first served notice of his potential in June last year, with his first international title – the Maldives International – at which he beat players like Jan Frohlich (Cze), Anup Sridhar (Ind) and Zulfadli Zulkiffli (Mas). Against Zulfkiffli, the world junior champion, he lost the first game but bounced back to win the remaining two comfortably, 13-21 21-11 21-16.
“I always have a problem against Srikanth,” Anup was to say later. “One of his best weapons is his return of serve – the way he attacks your low serve and puts you under pressure.”
The soft-spoken lad from Khammam in AP went on to reach semifinals at the Bahrain International, and at the Macau Open GP Gold in November. In the first round of the Macau Open, he beat the defensive Yunus Alamsyah of Indonesia in straight games. After getting past Alamsyah, he scalped Kim Ki Min (Kor), Wong Choon Hann (Mas) and Nan Wei (HK).
The Thailand Open win makes Srikanth the first men’s singles winner of a GP event outside India (the last Indian to win a title of this level was Parupalli Kashyap, with his victory of the Syed Modi GP Gold in Lucknow last year).
“It’s a really good win,” continued Gopichand. “Overall, the last few months have seen good results from Indian players.”
Srikanth’s path to the title
Final: bt 1-Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) 21-16 21-12
Semifinal: bt Thammasin Sitthikom (Tha) 21-14 21-18
Quarterfinal: bt Son Wan Ho (Kor) 21-17 21-18
Third Round: bt Soo Hwang Jong (Kor) 21-19 21-15
Second Round: bt Toby Penty (Eng) 21-4 21-14
First Round: bt Jeon Hyuk Jin (Kor) 21-17 21-12
