Srikanth Kidambi – ‘The rising badminton star’

Indian Badminton has been flourishing quite well in the recent past. A lot of emerging players have shown significant potential at the international level. One such rising talent is ‘Srikanth Kidambi’ – another gem that prospered under the prestigious mentorship and coaching of P. Gopichand whose academy has been continuously blooming a plethora of talent in the Indian badminton.

Born on 7th february 1993 in Ravulapalem, in east Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, Srikanth’s elder sibling Nanda Gopal is also a badminton player. It was in 2014 when Srikanth came into limelight by defying all odds and defeating two times Olympic champion Lin Dan by 21-19 ; 21-17 in the finals of China Open Super series Premier.

Let’s explore the Journey of this reigning badminton star:-

• Srikanth’s historic journey started in the 2011 Commonwealth Youth games that were held in Isle of Man. Srikanth impressed everyone by winning silver in the mixed doubles and bronze in the doubles category.
• In 2012 Kidambi outshined once again by defeating the then Junior world champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli to claim Men’s single title in Maldives International challenge.
• In 2013, Srikanth created a name for himself in the badminton fraternity by defeating the local favourite Boonsak Ponsana in the mega ‘Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold’ through straight sets of 21-16 and 21-12. Again in 2013, Kidambi clinched his first ever senior national title in Delhi by defeating the then champion and Olympian Parupalli Kashyap in All India senior National Championship.
• In 2014 India open Grand Prix Gold which was held in Lucknow, Kidambi finished as a runner up. In November 2014, he proved to be a trump card and made a major upset of the tournament by defeating 5 times world champion ‘Lin Dan’ in the straight sets of 21-19 and 21-17
• Year 2015 again proved astounding for Kidambi Srikanth as e became the first ever Indian male badminton player to win gold at the Swiss Open Grand Prix by defeating Viktor Axelsen by 21-15, 12-21, 21-14. He also proved to be a winner in the India Open 2015.
• In January 2016, Srikanth won the Syed Modi International Badminton Championship in Lucknow. In the 2016, Rio Olympics, Kidambi reached quarterfinals by defeating world no. 5 Jørgensen 21- 19, 21-19. In the quarterfinals of the Olympics Kidambi experienced one of the finest games of his life when he faced two time olympic champion Lin Dan. The youngster gave a very tough competition to the reigning champion but was ultimately defeated by 6-21, 21-11 and 18-21. Although, he won the hearts of many Indians through his fierce performance.

2017 has been another remarkable year for this amazing talent in Badminton as he along with Sai Praneeth entered the finals of the men’s single in Singapore Super Series held in the month of April . Although, It was Sai Praneeth, another gem who prospered under the tutelage of P. Gopichand who won the title by 17-21, 21-17, 21-12. He then won the Indonesian Open Super Series defeating Kazumasa Sakai of Japan by 21-11, 21-19, thus becoming the first Indian to achieve this feat. Srikanth continued his phenomenal form and Won the 2017 Australian Super Series held in June by defeating Chen Long of China 22-20, 21-16.

Srikanth Kidambi has time and again proved his worth and has made India proud at the International level. We hope he achieves furthermore success in his career and keeps on adding medals to his tally.