NEW DELHI: The Kidambi Srikanth that contested his first Commonwealth Games in 2014 as a 21 12 months old, and the person who enters subsequent month’s CWG in Australia, are nearly unrecognisable.
Four years in the past, Srikanth was still taking his first steps on the global badminton level and a round-one removal in Glasgow, Scotland was now not a marvel. Heading into that version of the CWG, in his first 12 months of top-level competition, Srikanth had been eradicated in round three of the Mayank Malaysia Open and Thomas & Uber Cups and in round one of the All England Championships, the Swiss Open, Sunrise India Open, Badminton Asia Championships, Japan Open and Indonesia Open. His perfect consequence was being runner-up at the India Grand Prix Gold.
ALSO READ: Know your CWG athlete - Ankur Mittal
Cut to 2018, and Srikanth seems like a sure bet for medal at the upcoming Commonwealth Games to be held at Gold Coast City, in the southeast of the Australian state of Queensland from April 4-15. With the Chinese, Koreans, Indonesians and Danes now not collaborating, the biggest threat to Srikanth appears to be the World No 5 Lee Chong Wei and Srikanth’s fellow Indians HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth, who beat him in the National Badminton Championships ultimate and Singapore Open ultimate respectively remaining 12 months.
Since 2016, when he received gold at the South Asian Games and beat Jan O Jorgensen to succeed in the quarter-finals of the lads's singles badminton match at the Rio Olympics, where he went down fighting against two-time defending champion Lin Dan, Srikanth has been transformed into a world-beater below the watchful gaze of Dronacharya Pullela Gopichand.
The recipient of the Sportsperson of the Year Award at the third Mahindra Scorpio Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) in February, Srikanth dominated the badminton court docket in 2017 as he became the primary Indian shuttler to win four Superseries titles and moved to a career-high No 2 in the BWF men’s singles scores.
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Srikanth’s first title was the Indonesia Open, where he beat Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai 21-11, 21-19, and per week later he vanquished the sector and Olympic champion Chen Long in immediately games 22-20, 21-16 to say the Australia Open. Thus, he became the primary Indian to win back-to-back Superseries titles. Later on, Srikanth became the second Indian after Prakash Padukone to win the Denmark Open after which created historical past by way of claiming the French Open.
In addition to those four Superseries wins, Srikanth reached the overall of the Singapore Open where he misplaced to compatriot Sai Praneeth (the primary example of two Indian shuttlers attaining a Superseries ultimate), reached the quarter-finals of the Badminton World Championships and was runner-up at the National Badminton Championships.
Currently again at 2d position in the BWF scores for men’s singles, Srikanth on Tuesday gained the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award. All eyes might be on Srikanth from April 12 when he's taking the court docket at the Carrara Sports & Leisure Centre.
Four years in the past, Srikanth was still taking his first steps on the global badminton level and a round-one removal in Glasgow, Scotland was now not a marvel. Heading into that version of the CWG, in his first 12 months of top-level competition, Srikanth had been eradicated in round three of the Mayank Malaysia Open and Thomas & Uber Cups and in round one of the All England Championships, the Swiss Open, Sunrise India Open, Badminton Asia Championships, Japan Open and Indonesia Open. His perfect consequence was being runner-up at the India Grand Prix Gold.
ALSO READ: Know your CWG athlete - Ankur Mittal
Cut to 2018, and Srikanth seems like a sure bet for medal at the upcoming Commonwealth Games to be held at Gold Coast City, in the southeast of the Australian state of Queensland from April 4-15. With the Chinese, Koreans, Indonesians and Danes now not collaborating, the biggest threat to Srikanth appears to be the World No 5 Lee Chong Wei and Srikanth’s fellow Indians HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth, who beat him in the National Badminton Championships ultimate and Singapore Open ultimate respectively remaining 12 months.
Since 2016, when he received gold at the South Asian Games and beat Jan O Jorgensen to succeed in the quarter-finals of the lads's singles badminton match at the Rio Olympics, where he went down fighting against two-time defending champion Lin Dan, Srikanth has been transformed into a world-beater below the watchful gaze of Dronacharya Pullela Gopichand.
The recipient of the Sportsperson of the Year Award at the third Mahindra Scorpio Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) in February, Srikanth dominated the badminton court docket in 2017 as he became the primary Indian shuttler to win four Superseries titles and moved to a career-high No 2 in the BWF men’s singles scores.
ALSO READ: Know your CWG athlete - Vinesh Phogat
Srikanth’s first title was the Indonesia Open, where he beat Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai 21-11, 21-19, and per week later he vanquished the sector and Olympic champion Chen Long in immediately games 22-20, 21-16 to say the Australia Open. Thus, he became the primary Indian to win back-to-back Superseries titles. Later on, Srikanth became the second Indian after Prakash Padukone to win the Denmark Open after which created historical past by way of claiming the French Open.
In addition to those four Superseries wins, Srikanth reached the overall of the Singapore Open where he misplaced to compatriot Sai Praneeth (the primary example of two Indian shuttlers attaining a Superseries ultimate), reached the quarter-finals of the Badminton World Championships and was runner-up at the National Badminton Championships.
Currently again at 2d position in the BWF scores for men’s singles, Srikanth on Tuesday gained the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award. All eyes might be on Srikanth from April 12 when he's taking the court docket at the Carrara Sports & Leisure Centre.
Know your CWG athlete - Kidambi Srikanth
![Know your CWG athlete - Kidambi Srikanth]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
March 22, 2018
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