The world No.25 lost to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu in straight games in the first round of India Open It is quite a curious case for Kidambi Srikanth. The man who was destined to rule men’s badminton given how he emerged as a world beater in 2017 and 2018, the former world No.1 never realised his potential after multiple ups and downs in the years that followed.
Year 2017 saw the 30-year-old reach five Superseries finals, winning four. Next year, Srikanth became only the second Indian male to be crowned world No.1 after the great Prakash Padukone.
Thereafter, he delivered some impressive performances but could never reach the zenith again. Last couple of years have been worse with Srikanth suffering early exits in most tournaments in 2023, not even reaching a semi-final even once. In fact, the last time he reached the last four stage was way back in November 2022 at the Hylo Open.
The poor run of form has continued in the first two tournaments of 2024 too with a second round exit at last week’s Malaysia Open. On Wednesday, the Pullela Gopichand protege suffered yet another first-round exit, this time at the $850,000 India Open here, a tournament he had won in 2015.(HT)