Johnson Cherian.
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth notched up his second successive Super Series title with a stunning straight-game triumph over reigning Olympic champion Chen Long in the Australian Open summit clash in Sydney on Sunday.
The world No.11 Srikanth won 22-20 21-16 in a 45-minute clash against the world No.6 Chinese, who is also the current All England champion.
Srikanth, who had reached the summit clash in Singapore and Indonesia before this tournament, is only the fifth player in the world to contest three successive Super Series finals.
The Indian, a semi-finalist in the last edition of the tournament, was the one to grab the early lead. Following a sedate start, Srikanth capitalised on his opponent’s rather sluggish game to clinch a 10-6 lead.
But perhaps jolted by the lead he had conceded, Long gathered himself just in time, starting with a deftly-placed smash, to make it 11-11.
The Chinese shifted gears quite suddenly to add pace to the proceedings and his baseline strokes stood out for both ferocity and accuracy.
But Srikanth was no pushover and played the catch-up game quite well, coming up with a couple of brilliant smashes of his own.
