The spotlight is now on India’s rising badminton star, Kidambi Srikanth, after his unexpected victory over China’s Lin Dan at the final of the China Open Super Series in Fuzhou.
The 21 year old rookie shocked the badminton fraternity’s after he defeated the top seed in straight sets, 21-19, 21-17 to secure his maiden Super Series triumph.
Srikanth, who rose from his 240 ranking in 2012 to his current world ranking of 13, hailed from your average middle class family and he used to sweat it out at a badminton academy in Hyderabad.
The hard work paid off for his career, as he gained momentum among young Indian shuttlers and continued to show solid performances on the national circuit.
His first breakthrough came in 2013, when he upstaged then national champion, Parupalli Kashyap at the All India Senior National Championships in New Delhi.
He then proceeded to beat Thailand veteran, Boonsak Ponsana, clinching the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold in Bangkok.
According to reports, the rising star’s plus points are his “lightning quick reflexes” and also his ability to dictate play at the net.
All eyes are now on Srikanth, and we’re expecting to see more of him very, very soon.
#ChinaOpen2014 historic and amazing achievement by Srikanth Kidambi & @NSaina #bravo #kudos 2014 China Open Super Series Premier Champsss
— Little Master (@littlemaster316) November 17, 2014
https://twitter.com/pulkit_nigam/status/534232210107142145
Great day for Indian sports #IndvsSL 5-0 sweep #sainanehwal & #srikanthkidambi winning #chinaopen titles #chakdeindia
— amol (@amol212) November 16, 2014
Congrats to @NSaina and @srikanthkidambi on winning the china open. Historic day for Indian shuttlers!
— Niranjan Rao (@niranjvr) November 16, 2014
Epic day for Indian #badminton. @NSaina and #SrikanthKidambi win the China Super Series. Srikanth beat #LinDan. #Bravo
— philip jose (@philip_jose) November 17, 2014
Other posts by Azlyn Balqis
