In singles, Srikanth helps complete golden double

Srikkanth beat Axelsen 18-21 21-13 21-12. (Source: Ravi Kanojia)

K Srikanth made it two in two for India in the singles events as he made the most of Danish sixth seed Viktor Axelsen’s late meltdown to win 18-21 21-13 21-12 in the mens singles final. It was the second straight tournament win for the Indian who had beaten the very same opponent in three games at the Swiss Open Grand Prix gold earlier this month.

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In contrast to Nehwal’s win which was a largely one sided affair against a tired opponent, second seed Srikanth’s victory was a hard fought one. Both Srikanth and Axelsen had only had to play two games in their semifinals. While the Indian had beaten Chinese qualifier Xue Song, Axelsen’s opponent had retired with an injury.

The young Dane had showed plenty of learning from his previous match against the Indian. Both players are similarly attacking and similarly strong in retrieving which meant that both players duelled to dominate the net early on.

Initially it was the Dane who appeared to have found his mark. Axelsen had the advantage of playing against the drift and as Srikanth took time to adjust for the air currents, the world championship bronze medalist opened up a 8-5 lead. Although Srikanth clawed back at 9-9, the Dane broke off soon and didn’t allow his plans to go wayward. As he opened up a sizeable lead, the Dane began going for his shots if a bit losely. He held six game points at 20-14 but allowed Srikanth to close in to 20-18 before clinching the game.

With the drift in his favour it was the Indian’s turn to dominate and with the momentum from the final stages of the earlier game behind him, Srikanth had a 12-4 lead. The drift was clearly a factor as Axelsen left four shuttles only to watch as they landed inside the white lines. Axelsen found a run of six straight points to close in to 13-11. With the Dane rallying hard, Srikkanth got a bit of luck when with the score 14-12 in his favour as a return push clipped a net cord and fell into Axelsen’s half. That bit of fortune was enough as Axelsen was only able to add another couple of points in his favour in that game. Axelsen made another bad call on a drive he thought was out to give Srikanth a game point and the Indian converted instantly.

With the drift clearly bothering Axelsen, the outcome of the match would be determined by how much of a lead Axelsen could gain on the advantage side before the interval when he would have to shift to the other end. The Dane began aggressively and appeared to be changing ends with a 11-7 lead when Srikanth refferred a line call. It would be in his favour and Axelsen would only lead by two 11-9 at the break. It would not be enough. Srikanth caught up 12-12 when Axelsen lifted an underhand clear long and in a bit of panic Axelsen reviewed the next point — a cross court drive from Srikkanth which was clearly in. His rhythm had been well and truly broken at that point. Dane made another misjudgement on a line call on the very next point and it was 15-12 to Srikanth. when Axelsen touched the net when going for a net kill. Indeed from 10-12 down, Srikanth would win the next 11 points clinching the match when a cross court smash to an open court was hit well wide by the Dane.

Source:: Indian Express