Kidambi Srikanth has had a phenomenal 2017 but he has a chance to have the icing on the cake at the Dubai World Superseries Finals starting on Wednesday. After winning a record four Superseries titles this year, the 24-year-old will end the season by facing off against some of the world’s best players, who have also had a great 2017 like him, in the tournament.
Placed second in the Superseries Finals rankings, Srikanth avoided the group of death, which features former world No 1s Son Wan Ho, Chen Long and Lee Chong Wei. The Indian has been slotted in Group B alongside world champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, All England Open finalist Shi Yuqi of China and India Open runner-up Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
Srikanth and Axelsen are the favourites to progress from this group to the semi-finals but the two would be wise not to discount the chances of the others. If Srikanth needed any extra motivation ahead of this tournament, here it is: The Indian has a chance to become world No 1 if he wins the tournament and other results go his way.
Here is how Srikanth lines up against his fellow Group B members.
Viktor Axelsen
Srikanth’s first match of the tournament will be against the defending champion who, like the Indian, is one of the favourites to win the title. The two have squared off three times this year already, with Axelsen winning the first two in India and Japan, before Srikanth pulled one back in the Dane’s home Superseries tournament.
The court in Dubai tends to be on the slower side, which will suit Axelsen more than it does Srikanth. However, the Indian will only have to follow the same strategy as he did in Denmark. After losing the first game rather easily by going all out in attack, Srikanth began to engage Axelsen in longer rallies and started to play with patience, absorbing the pressure and waiting for his opponent to make a mistake. Srikanth won the match 14-21, 22-20, 21-7.
But Axelsen would also have learnt from that defeat and it won’t be surprising if he too comes up with a different strategy against Srikanth in Dubai. It promises to be a mouth-watering opening-day clash.
Shi Yuqi
Srikanth’s second round-robin match, against world No 8 Shi Yuqi, should be fairly straightforward considering he has a 100% record against the Chinese. Srikanth and Shi have played only three times before – all this year – with the Indian coming out on top every time. While the first two encounters ended in straight-game wins for Srikanth, Shi gave a better fight in their last meeting in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Playing his second consecutive Superseries tournament in as many weeks after going all the way in Denmark, Srikanth looked tired and struggled to handle Shi’s deceptive drops and smashes in the first game, before losing 8-21. However, the 24-year-old flicked his switch on after that and, again, engaged the Chinese in longer and flatter rallies to get back in the match.
In a routine quite similar to the quarter-final against Axelsen in Denmark, Srikanth won the second game narrowly – 21-19 – before going on to cruise to a win in the decider – 21-9. Srikanth missed the final two Superseries tournaments of the year with injury after playing the senior Nationals so Shi’s best hope would be for the Indian not to be at his fittest in Dubai.
Chou Tien Chen
The result of Srikanth’s third round-robin match, against Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen is quite unpredictable. The two have faced each other only twice before, winning one each, but the last time was back in the 2015 edition of the Dubai Finals. Chou had won that match in straight games.
The 27-year-old will enter the tournament not in the best of form. After reaching the India Open final earlier this year – before losing to Axelsen – Chou has failed to get past the quarter-finals of any other Superseries tournament following that.
Not many would expect Chou to make it through to the semi-finals but the absence of any expectations could end up playing in his favour.