Srikanth might have lost but let's not forget the scintillating season he's had. Four Superseries titles, World No. 2 ranking....Srikanth will definitely be back for more next season and we can't wait to watch him in action. He does have his third group stage match left tomorrow and he'll be going all out to leave Dubai with a win!
Good afternoon and welcome to the Sportskeeda liveblog of the Dubai World Superseries Finals 2017 group stage matches. Both Srikanth Kidambi and PV Sindhu will be in action today.
It is Srikanth, who is first up. The World No. 4 faces the seventh ranked Chou Tien Chen in what is a do-or-die match for both since both of them failed to get a win in their first group matches in Dubai this year.
They are tied 1-1 in their head-to-head meetings and their last showdown happened right here in Dubai two years ago, where the Chinese Taipei ace came out on top.
Two years later, Srikanth is a different player, both physically and mentally. He has come to this tournament after the best season of his career that saw him grab four Superseries titles. He opted out of the China Open and the Hong Kong Open to recover completely from a hamstring niggle.
The effects of the lay-off were evident as he was lacking in sharpness against Viktor Axelsen, even though he did show a lot of his attacking prowess.
With the most difficult match in his group behind him, Srikanth would surely like to concentrate on registering a win in the rest of the matches. The Indian would very much be aiming for a win today.