As it happened - Srikanth Kidambi vs Chen Long, Australian Open 2017 Final

This is Sri's SECOND CONSECUTIVE SUPERSERIES TITLE after the Indonesian Open last week. What a DREAM COMEBACK from injury!

This was Sri's FIRST EVER WIN over Chen Long!! And what a match to do that! And what a scoreline, too!

Final score: 22-20, 21-16

Chen's shot lands OUT....SRIKANTH KIDAMBI IS THE CHAMPION!!!!!!

And he makes it 16-19

Great defence from Chen to force an error off Sri...15-19

19-14 it is

Sri's shot lands just inside the baseline..18-14

Sri smashes his way up to 17-13

Croscourt smash from Srikanth....16-13

Sri marches ahead to 15-12

And he extends it to 14-11

13-11 it is for Sri

Chen's shot lands wide....Sri goes up 13-10

SUCH AMAZING SHOTMAKING FROM BOTH! Point goes to Chen....10-12

12-9 it is for Sri after the break

Chants of "India, India jeetega bhai, jeetega!" being heard at the stadium

And Sri goes up to 11-9 at the break

Chen Long keeps his forehand wing open....Sri attacks with a smash....10-9

Again it is all square...9-9

Down-the-line winner from Sri...9-8

8-8

Sri snatches lead 8-7

Again back to 7-7

Ctosscourt drop from Sri lands out....Chen Long gets point on challenge....he leads 7-6

IT IS BACK TO 6-6

Great rally ends on a Srikanth error....he still leads 6-5

6-3 to the Indian

WHAT AN ANGLE from Sri....crosscourt drop that JUST lands inside the court....5-2

And Srikanth makes it 4-1

Lack of sharpness from Chen...more errors.....Sri leads 3-1

Now Sri inches ahead to 2-1

SECOND GAME

It is 1-1

That is only the SECOND TIME that Sri has ever taken a game off Chen Long!!

And a great finish at the net......22-20 to Srikanth!!

Fabulous half-volley return that Chen Long can't return...Sri leads 21-20

Now BIG SMASH from Chen Long..20-20

BIG SMASH from Sri...20-19

19-19

Sri gets back one point with some fantastic footwork....18-19

Chen responds brilliantly to Sri's smash....he leads 19-17

2 errors from Srikanth...back to level .....17-17

Super drop by the Indian....17-15

Chen Long misses smash...lead goes back to Sri, 16-15

15-15

He brushes it off to lead again, 15-14

Chen Long's shot lands WIDE....14-14

Powerpacked smashes from Chen Long...14-12

12-12

3 points in a row for the Chinese...12-11