Five records broken by Indian shuttler Srikanth Kidambi in 2017

Indian shuttler Srikanth Kidambi has been on a roll in 2017. After having to miss a chunk of the season in 2016 due to an ankle injury, he has come back and how! There’s a spring in his step, he is oozing confidence with every shot and he looks absolutely unruffled on the court under pressure.

This is a version of Srikanth that is very different from the one we have seen in the last couple of years when he struggled for consistency. With the arrival of the Indonesian coach, Mulyo Handoyo, the Guntur-born Pullela Gopichand protégé has a lot more self-assurance that is evidenced from the way he has been winning laurels in 2017.

Here are five records that the World No. 8 has broken in 2017:

Only one from the top 10 to have beaten Viktor Axelsen in last encounter

Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen has become better and better with each tournament that culminated in his maiden World Championships crown in August. And he did not stop there as he added the Japan Open title as well.

Srikanth Kidambi snapped the top-ranked Axelsen’s 13-match winning streak in mind-boggling fashion when he came back from a game down to edge the Dane 14-21, 22-20, 21-7 in the Denmark Open quarter-finals.

It made him the only one from the current men’s singles top 10 to have beaten the Dane in their last encounter. Out of the other eight names in the top 10, seven have succumbed to Axelsen in their last meeting and they include Lee Chong Wei, Chen Long, Lin Dan, Son Wan Ho, Tian Houwei, Chou Tien Chen and NG Ka Long Angus. Only World No. 4 Shi Yuqi has never crossed swords with the numero uno player.

Only Indian men’s shuttler to win consecutive Superseries titles

Srikanth went on a rampage in June by winning back-to-back titles at the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier and the Australian Open Superseries in consecutive weeks. It not only spoke of his stamina and energy but those two weeks of dazzling display also helped him accomplish a number of feats.

He became the first Indian man to win consecutive Superseries titles as well as the only Indian man so far to have laid his hands on the Australian Open trophy.

Not only that, by entering the Australian Open final, the 24-year-old also etched his name in record books as the first Indian man and the sixth player in history to reach three consecutive Superseries finals. He had earlier finished as the runner-up at the Singapore Open Superseries, losing to compatriot Sai Praneeth.

Tops the race to Dubai World Superseries Finals

Srikanth’s fabulous twin wins at the Indonesia Open and the Australian Open in June helped him shoot to the top position in the World Superseries Destination Dubai Rankings. The latter is a yearly ranking system that tracks performances in the 12 annual Superseries events and determines the top eight that get to play in the prestigious season-ending championships.

After his win at the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier, Srikanth surged to the second position in the standings by jumping as many as 12 spots with just Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen ahead of him. By securing another whopping 9200 points in Australia, he overtook even Tien Chen to rise to the pinnacle.

Prize money leader

srikanth kidambi pullela gopichand — Srikanth with his coach, Pullela Gopichand after his twin success

Srikanth’s stupendous performances not only improved his rankings, but it also sent his bank balance though the roof. The big Superseries victories sent his prize money soaring to a staggering US $147,847.50 at the end of June and made him sit atop the prize money list in 2017. It enabled him to eclipse the likes of legends, Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan.

Thanks to his momentous feat, Srikanth surpassed even the women’s World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying, who won three Superseries titles in 2017, apart from the Asian Championships.

And the Indian has maintained that position since then. In a list released by the BWF in the first week of October, he still leads the pack with earnings of $149,797.50.

Only Indian to reach four Superseries finals in a year

Courtesy of a 21-18, 21-17 win over the World No. 15 Wong Wing Ki Vincent in the Denmark Open semi-finals, Srikanth added yet another achievement to his illustrious resume. He became the first Indian, male or female, to have made it through to four Superseries finals in a year. He started his Superseries final stint with a loss in Singapore and then went on to triumph in his next two finals in Indonesia and Australia.

That is something even the Indian shuttle queen Saina Nehwal has not managed to do. She reached three Superseries finals in a year on two occasions. In 2010, she reached finals in Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong, winning them all. In 2012, she reigned supreme in Indonesia and Demark while losing in the French Open summit clash.

Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee