Boria Majumdar
It was a tame end to a stellar campaign. In fact, if wasn’t surprising because Kidambi Srikanth did not have much left in the tank after the marathon effort on Saturday. Not just that, but he played five hours and 10 minutes across seven days. Ranked No. 65 and making the final after coming through qualifying, this event was proof that he still has done juice left. The question is whether can he ride on this and believe that he can, or will he yet again disappear and leave us all wondering what happened?
Srikanth could have been the best of his era. Injuries and lack of killer instinct made sure he did not reach great heights. Can he turn the clock back to 2017 or even the Thomas Cup campaign of 2022? Knowing Srikanth, he has the potential, but the mental strength? Will he drift again, and let it all slip away?
Today, he wasn’t even in it. Li Shifeng just took it away and was much too good. It happens, and I for one am satisfied with a final showing. I’m keen to see what he does next. Singapore and Indonesia. Don’t want an early exit, for that’s the danger with Srikanth. Some consistency, and we could see one final resurgence. For Indian badminton which has been struggling, it would be a ray of hope and optimism. And needless to say, he is capable of that. He was the original star of the last decade who pushed Indian men’s badminton to where it is today. Now with the sport struggling, can he rekindle that momentum? Malaysia has shown promise. It is now up to him to fulfil it.