Kidambi Srikanth
From The Times of India
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A profile
India Today, Suhani Singh
April 20, 2015
Kidambi Srikanth's blistering rise up the world badminton rankings has set him up as a pote ntial successor to his idol, P. Gopichand
Kidambi Srikanth had just got a new badminton racquet when he sat down in front of the TV to watch Pullela Gopichand win the All England Badminton Championships in 2001. Six months later, along with his older brother K. Nandagopal, he would meet the player at a felicitation ceremony at NTR Indoor Stadium near his home in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Srikanth's father KVS Krishna remembers Gopichand's mother Subbaravamma telling his sons, "You have to become like Gopi one day." Srikanth took the advice to heart. He was eight.
Fourteen years later, with two Superseries, including the recent India Open, and two Grand Prix titles under his belt, Srikanth, 22, is a promising candidate to match, if not better, the laurels collected by Gopichand, his idol and now his coach. Srikanth garnered his first success on the international circuit in 2013, winning the Thailand Open, but it was in the following year that he really took off, swiftly rising in the world rankings from 47th to 4th.
While the focus has for long been on Saina Nehwal, who became the first woman world number 1 from the country at the India Open, Srikanth has started giving her company at the top of badminton's global pecking order.
"He is an intelligent player, and fearless," says Gopichand. "He learns very quickly and doesn't choke on court." Srikanth's attacking style of play-his round-the-head, deep, well-placed, fast smashes, sometimes struck at over 400 kmph, are lethal-combined with his cool on-court demeanour makes him a delight to watch. It was this combination that took five-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan-with the home crowd rooting for him-by surprise at the 2014 China Open. Gopichand was the first to sight this "surprise" element in Srikanth's game, noting that in an era of excessive video analysis, his game wasn't "easy for people to understand".
All this from a player who took to the sport only because his older brother had. Srikanth left home when he was nine to join Nandagopal at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh in Visakhapatnam and later in Khammam. In 2008, Nandagopal joined the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad; Srikanth followed a year later, aged 17. Their father, Krishna, remembers quarrelling frequently with his wife, who was unhappy that both her sons were sent away at a young age. He pacified her holding out hope of future laurels. "I felt badminton was the best as it is an individual sport and (you succeed) purely on merit," Krishna says. "And if by the grace of God they were good, they would be unstoppable."
Srikanth's coaches though weren't sure that he had the physical prowess to succeed in singles, so early on he also played doubles-men's with T. Nagendra and mixed with Manisha K. "We had to force him to eat," says Krishna. "He wasn't energetic." Still, he excelled, ranking number one in under-19 men's and mixed doubles.
Kidambi Srikanth's blistering rise up the world badminton rankings has set him up as a potential successor to his idol, P. Gopichand. It was Gopichand, who saw in the skinny youngster talent waiting to be honed. He asked Srikanth, then 19, to concentrate solely on singles. It took him a while to garner success but when it eventually came-first in Thailand in 2013 and then in honours-rich 2014-there was no stopping him. The turning point, Srikanth says, was his battle with meningitis in July last year. "The illness changed me. I became more passionate than ever. I started training a lot harder," he says. "And since then I have been lucky to get everything right and win crucial points in every match."
Gopichand believes his two straight losses to Korean Son Wan-ho-in men's singles and team events-at the Asian Games in Incheon in September last year and the subsequent chat between the coach and the player that seeded Srikanth's rapid growth. "He understood his mistakes. He now tries new things on court."
Having proven that he is no one-hit wonder-after finishing runner-up at the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships 2015, he won the Swiss Open, beating Viktor Axelsen of Denmark-Srikanth now faces the added pressure of being the country's highest-ranked male badminton player. He doesn't mind the challenge though. Indeed, he has set his sights much higher: a medal at the World Badminton Championships like P.V. Sindhu and then at the Olympics like Saina Nehwal. "It is beyond doubt that he is here for the long run," says Gopichand. "His opponents will find ways to crack his game. He has to build on his strengths to make it difficult for them to exploit his weaknesses, and he has to stay physically fit."
If his mother has her way, Srikanth won't have a weakness. She is leaving nothing to chance: she has made him wear three rudraksh beads around his neck and tie threads on his wrists for luck. "She has asked me to do just one thing, so I don't question it," he says. Srikanth still shares a room with his brother at Gopichand's academy. After many quarrels between them, "things are getting a little cooler now," he laughs. When not practising, he watches tennis, especially when his favourite player Roger Federer is in action. He follows cricket, "of course", and after a hard day on court occasionally unwinds with a film. "I am happy with the way my life is now," he says. So are badminton fans with his game.
July 2014: near-fatal brain fever
When brain fever almost got Srikanth
Manne Ratnakar The Times of India Nov 17 2014 Hyderabad
From the jaws of death to the podium in the Mecca of badminton -China, Kidambi Srikanth has endured a rollercoaster ride in 2014.
Srikanth was found unconscious in the washroom in the first week of July .Neither chief coach Pullela Gopichand nor his mother Subbaravamma, who looks after the Academy, were present at the venue. The 21-year old, who is also the first Indian to win a Grand Prix Gold outside In dia, was shifted to a corporate hos pital where the doctors said he had brain fever. A worried Gopi and Srikanth's family waited with bated breath as the shuttler was recovering in the ICU. “We were worried about his survival. He went through the most dangerous phase of his life. From then on it was a big task for us to motivate him. He struggled in a few tournaments after that. But all along he was confident and working very hard,“ Gopichand said, adding that beating Lin Dan in China was no mean task.
The Guntur lad arrived at the Gopichand Academy in 2008-09 in dramatic circumstances. His brother Nandagopal is a trainee at the Academy and Srikanth was testing the patience of his parents without doing anything worthwhile. It was at this juncture Srikanth's father pleaded with Gopi to allow his younger son to join the academy. Srikanth was soon drafted into the doubles and mixed doubles training teams. By 2011, Gopi noticed that the teenager has a lot of promise. He soon moved Srikanth to the singles and it is then the career graph of Srikanth began to rise.
During the Indian Badminton League, coach of world No.1 Lee Chong Wei, Tae Je Bok asked an Indian official about Srikanth. Tae told the official that Srikanth resembles Wei in his movement and approach. His prophecy that Srikanth will one day become a great player came true in Nov 2014.
2015
2015: Runner-up in Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold
The Times of India, Dec 07 2015
Manne Ratnakar
Srikanth goes down fighting in final
At the end of a gruelling, hard-fought and enthralling encounter, Kidambi Srikanth finished runner-up in the men's singles of the $120,000 Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold in Malang, Indonesia, on Sunday. The 22-year-old, did all that he could, but on a day when the crowd and chair umpire turned against him even lady luck deserted him. He came as close as 21-20 and then 22-21 in the decider but committed unforced errors twice to hand over the crown, which his friend HS Prannoy had won last year, to local lad Tommy Sugiarto. The Indonesian second seed came back after losing the first and survived some anxious moments towards the end of t
2017
Beats world no 1 to enter Indonesian final
Kidambi Srikanth stuns world no 1 Son Wan-Ho to enter Indonesia Open final| Jun 17, 2017 | PTI
Kidambi Srikanth stunned Son Wan-Ho 21-15, 14-21, 24-22
Kidambi Srikanth was at his grittiest best as he shocked world No.1 Son Wan Ho for a place in the final but giant-killer H S Prannoy's battle ended in agony at the $1,000,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier, here on Saturday.
Srikanth fought like a man possessed to outclass Son Wan Ho in an energy-sapping men's singles match that lasted an hour and 12 minutes here.
Srikanth had a 2-4 head-to-head record against Son, having lost to the Korean four times in the last four meetings but all that didn't matter as he survived a battle of attrition at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC).
This is the fourth Super Series final for Srikanth, who had reached the summit clash in Singapore in April and won the 2014 China Open and the 2015 India Open.
Beats Sakai to win Indonesia Open
Srikanth beats Sakai to win Indonesia Open Super Series Premier title | Jun 18, 2017 |PTI
Srikanth looked in the zone as he easily downed world no 47 Sakai in straight games 21-11, 21-19
The Indonesian Open is Srikanth's second Super Series Premier title after he won the 2014 China Open Super Series Premier
Srikanth had finished runner-up at Singapore Open after losing to compatriot B Sai Praneeth in the summit clash last month
JAKARTA: Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth clinched his third Super Series title, lifting the Indonesia Open men's singles trophy with a straight-game victory over Japanese qualifier Kazumasa Sakai in the final.
World No.22 Srikanth, who had reached the finals at Singapore Open in April, outclassed Sakai, ranked 47th, 21-11 21-19 in just 37 minutes to take home a cheque of $75,000.
Srikanth played a patient game and didn't allow his opponent to engage in any fast-paced rally. He dictated the pace with his precise angled returns and unleashed his smashes at perfect intervals to down his rival.
Beats Son Wan Ho in Oz Open
Suhas Nayse| Jun 23 2017 | OZ OPEN - Srikanth shocks world No. 1 again| The Times of India (Delhi)
Five days after defeating world No.1 ys after defeating world No.1 Son Wan Ho in Jakarta, the Indian achieved the feat again, this time in Sydney . Srikanth knocked out the top-seed Korean in three games to storm into the men's singles quarterfinal of the Australian Open Super Series Badminton.
Srikanth was slow to start. But as the was slow to start. But as the match progressed, he got into full flow and registered a sensational 15-21, 21-13, 21-13 victory. The 57-minute second round clash saw Srikanth playing some extraordinary shots in the last two games, to which the leading shuttler in the world had no answers.
Srikanth wins Australian Open
indianexpress.com
Australian Open Super Series Final: Kidambi Srikanth beat Chen Long 22-20, 21-16 Kidambi Srikanth contested his third straight Super Series final and second in two weeks and came out victorious.
Rises to no.8
June 2017: Kidambi Srikanth returned to the no.8 position in the world rankings.
