'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAIAQEAAAAAh//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/2gAIAQIQAAAAL//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/2gAIAQMQAAAAH//EAB8QAAIBAwUBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECBgADBBYhRJGh4f/aAAgBAQABPwB4dHUDraTKbLQF3a6FKhnOxX2tGR88U9fa/8QAGBEAAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDETH/2gAIAQIBAT8AaZ70/8QAGBEAAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIBAzH/2gAIAQMBAT8Aixlw/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
2017 was a great year for India in badminton. Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian to win four different Superseries titles, as he won the Indonesia Open, followed by Australian Open, Denmark Open and concluding a great year by winning the prestigious French Open. Srikanth also reached the Singapore Open final earlier in the year but lost to B. Sai Praneeth in the summit clash.
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy won the US Open after heartbreak in the Indonesia Open semi-final. PV.Sindhu won silver in the World Championships in Glasgow, and won the India Open and the Korea Open while Saina Nehwal, who was making a comeback bagged a bronze at the World Championships.
The shuttlers entertained the crowds with some absolute nail-biters in order to achieve these victories. Let's take a look at some of the most interesting matches played out this year that involved these Indian shuttlers.
#5 Chirag Shetty and Satviksairaj Rankireddy def. Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding (French Open)
In October, the doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satviksairaj Rankireddy ranked No.32 defeated World No.6 duo of Danish shuttlers, Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding in the French Open.
In the first game, the Indians took the lead 15 times but were pegged back every time till the score of 20-20. Then, Shetty and Satviksairaj scored two consecutive points to win the nail-biting game 22-20.
In the second game, the Danes got a good head-start with 5 consecutive points and ran away with the game, winning 21-12. In the decider, the Indian pair managed to get an early lead of 8-2, but the Danish pair clawed back, when they won four and three consecutive points bringing the score to 19-19. The World No.32 pair then won two points to the respite of many Indian fans, ensuring their qualification for the next round.
This victory helped them reach their second quarter-final of the season. In the quarter-final, they were knocked out by another Danish pair of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen as they lost out 5-21, 21-17 and 17-21.
#4 Srikanth Kidambi defeated Chen Long (Australian Open Superseries Final)
In June, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Olympic champion Chen Long of China in straight sets in the final of the Australian Open Superseries which lasted a mere 46 minutes.
In the first game, Srikanth took an early lead of 10-6 but the Chinese pegged him back at 11-11 and there on, it was a neck-to-neck battle as they reached a score of 20-20.
Srikanth bagged two consecutive points to win the first game. In the second round, the Indian hit the ground running once more as he took a 6-2 lead but Chen Long pegged him back to 6-6 and the fight went on until 9-9. Srikanth took the Chinese shuttler by surprise as he stormed to a 21-16 victory to win the match.
With this victory, Srikanth won the Australian Open title which was his second of the total four Superseries titles that he clinched in the year.
#3 HS Prannoy def. Lee Chong Wei (Denmark Open Round 2)
In October, HS Prannoy stunned the then World No.7 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the Denmark Open.
The first game was a neck-to-neck battle till it reached the score of 15-15. The Indian stole the lead from there and went on to win the game 21-17. The second game was the mirror opposite of the first as the scores were equal till the Malaysian had a lead of one point with the score at 9-8. After that, the Malaysian veteran took Prannoy by a storm and won the game 21-11.
In the decider, the Lee Chong Wei put the foot on the gas from the start as he had a lead of three points with the score at 7-4. Lee Chong remained in the lead till the scores were at 13-10. After that, Prannoy made a comeback and won eight consecutive points, taking a lead of five points with the score at 18-13.
After that, Lee Chong made the Indian fans bite their nails as he levelled the score at 19-19. But, the Indian shuttler gave his fans a huge reason to celebrate by winning two consecutive points and thus winning the match.
Prannoy lost the subsequent quarter-finals in straight sets 21-13, 21-18 to Son Wan Ho of South Korea and was eliminated from the tournament after causing a big upset.
#2 Srikanth Kidambi def. Victor Axelsen (Denmark Open quarter-final)
In October, Kidambi Srikanth defeated the local boy and World No.1 Victor Axelsen in the Denmark Open.
The Dane was on the front foot since the starting of the first game as he took a 7-1 lead. Srikanth tried to make his way back into the game as he got the score to 14-12 but it was all Axelsen from there as he won the game 21-14. In the second game, the Indian took the lead 12 times but was pegged back every time bringing the score to 20-20. But then, he won two consecutive points to take the match to the decider game.
In the start of the decider, both the players were apprehensive of getting into the attack in the start as they got to a 3-3 score. After that, Srikanth took the match away like a whirlwind and won it by 21-7.
Srikanth went on to win the quarter-final, semi-final and the final in quite a one-sided manner thus winning the Denmark Open, his third out of the total four Superseries wins of the year.
#1 PV Sindhu loses to in the final to Nozomi Okuhara (Glasgow World Championship)
In August, PV Sindhu lost to Japanese Nozomi Okuhara in the final of the Glasgow World Championship 2017.
In the first game, Sindhu had a lead of 11-5 at the interval but was pegged back to 14-14 by the Japanese who further took the lead of four points at 18-14, but the Indian clawed back to 19-19. Okuhara then won two consecutive points to win the game.
In the second game, Sindhu started on the front foot as she took a lead of 9-3 but was pegged back by Okuhara at 12-12 and then the game hung in balance till 20-20. Sindhu then clinched two consecutive points to take the final to a decider.
In the decider, the Japanese took a lead of 5-1 but Sindhu pegged her back easily and the two shuttlers went head-to-head till 20-20. However, Okuhara then won two consecutive points to clinch gold at the World Championship, disappointing a lot of Indian fans. However, this match has gone down in badminton folklore, as the two shuttlers fought tooth and nail in an epic clash that lasted 110 minutes.
