Kidambi Srikanth wins 'Sportsperson of the Year' award at Indian Sports Honours 

What’s the story?

Kidambi Srikanth reached yet another milestone in his career, as he was conferred with the Sportsperson of the Year Award at the Sanjeev Goenka Indian Sports Honours gala, in Mumbai.

In case you didn’t know…

The Indian shuttler has been on top form this year, having won four Superseries titles so far, in 2017. He won the Indonesia Open, Australia Open, the Denmark Open, and the French Open. The last two of these were successive tournaments.

Heart of the matter

Srikanth went on a record-breaking spree this year. His four Superseries titles made him the first ever Indian to achieve this feat in a year, and the fourth shuttler worldwide. To add to that, these victories also launched him up the BWF men’s singles rankings to the second spot.

The Indian Sports Honours were held for the first time, which was an initiative put together by business magnate Sanjeev Goenka and the Virat Kohli foundation. Just ahead of the awards, Srikanth had gone on his winning spree, clinching the Denmark Open and the French Open last month.

After these marquee events, Srikanth took part in the Senior Badminton nationals, where he lost in the final to HS Prannoy.

What’s next?

While he has won four Superseries this year, Srikanth has struggled with an injury of late, as he has had to pull out of the China Open and the Hong Kong Open. With the Dubai Superseries Finals coming up, Srikanth will be looking to shake off this knock, and go for a fifth title this year, in Dubai.

Author’s take

While this has been a fine run for Srikanth, the shuttler also has to keep the limitations of his body in mind. As he plays more and more, the game can also start to take an effect on his body. It would be interesting to see ho Srikanth balances these two aspects in the future.