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Kidambi Srikanth gets a jolt with ouster at World Badminton Championship

After two successive losses to Srikanth, Korean No.1 Son Wan Ho took his revenge on the biggest stage of badminton championships.

Kidambi Srikanth, Korean World No.1, badminton, sports news India’s Kidambi Srikanth slips during his 21-14, 21-18 loss to Korean World No.1 Son Wan Ho at the World Badminton Championships. (Source: Reuters)

The Korean national team had enlisted a battery of psychologists this last month to help get past their top players’ potholed confidence after Indians had rained down on them. Son Wan Ho had been twice beaten by Kidambi Srikanth, and the Korean World No.1 admitted the loss at Malaysia had haunted him. On Friday at the biggest stage of the World Championships, the Korean took his first step in making a point – starting with his dreaded nemesis.

“Losing to Srikanth twice had been very disappointing, and my confidence was down because of him. I came here to the Worlds wanting revenge. I told myself it’s my turn now,” Son Wan Ho would say, after plateauing a very-flat Srikanth 21-14, 21-18 in 49 dour minutes. But this will remain Srikanth’s challenge — negotiating the lulling ennui of play, when up against players like the Korean.

The 29-year-old has been ranked No.1 in the world for a while, but doesn’t have a big individual medal to show for his consistency. He is just terrifically steady. The reason why Koreans had gone into a huddle for their top guy was because he’s won them the top prize in team events – Asian Games teams, Sudirman and Thomas Cup, and had aced the Super Series equation, though the big one eludes him. “My problem has been I’m No.1 but I know can I can do better than this. I wanted to prove it here,” he said.

He wasn’t too happy when Srikanth fetched up in his draw. But the Koreans had gone into video analysis and seeking help from psychologists already. “I wanted to show I’m No.1 in the world.” Srikanth stood in the way. On Friday, big quarters day at the Worlds, he left Srikanth rooted to the floor, standing.

Srikanth never got into the match. Which was a travesty because when he reached 18-19 in the second, Son Wan Ho confessed he had gone to pieces again. “I was very, very nervous when he made up the lead. Thankfully he made errors, or you never know what would’ve happened if it went to the decider,” he said.

Son plays at an annoyingly lulling pace – with very few accelerations thrown in. It takes a lot of character to lie in wait — keep the shuttle in at all times — and sparingly use the kill. Doing this well, day after day, has taken the Korean to World No.1, and no matter how aware Srikanth was of this facet, he couldn’t help himself being drawn into that same mitigated speed as Son kept a hold over the lead.

Srikanth’s net-play was in disarray from the first time he lingered at the front-court. The 24-year-old Indian has some delectable cross-court flicks at the net, but for some reason the pace of rallies simply wasn’t inspiring anything in him. His first error at 0-1 came at the net, and the fatal mistake in the end that made 18-19 to 18-20 was also him mule-headedly trying his luck with a complex flick when a simple put-down was the need.

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To go with that, with Son setting the slow pace, he sprayed his smashes going for the lines and his tosses drifted like broken kites. Struggling with his length he would fall back 8-11 but it wasn’t so much Son’s brilliant retrieving as it was Srikanth’s own demons in getting a rhythm going. Of the many tiny bits that add up to World No.1, Son’s low defence – picking the shuttle just above the ground in his forecourt gliding returns – is the one that added to Srikanth’s misery.

His utter lack of control at the net though was to prove his doom eventually after he lost the opener 21-14. Srikanth would continue dawdling till 5-16, before waking up as if from a slumber and suddenly pushing the pace – which started working well for him. The jolt had kicked in a wee bit late, but he showed an extended patch of what quality he could’ve brought to the World semis.

Retrieving gamely, he would string together a few gushing attacks, coming to the net confidently as well as showing the maturity to play the drop at 9-16. Getting the better of net exchanges, he would run upto 17-19, with one more net error creeping in. It was at 18-19 that he would blunder at the net – playing an ambitious backhand flick on a day when his net had been shabby. It would take Son Wan Ho to 20-18, and a month’s psychology sessions back in Korea, would finally kick in.

“He played real well, my strategy wasn’t right today and I couldn’t get into the match. I tried many things but it didn’t work. When I realised what was working, it had gotten too late,” he would say, with a Worlds quarters to go with his Olympic quarters miss.

First uploaded on: 26-08-2017 at 02:22 IST
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