Third time's the charm – Kidambi Srikanth lifts Syed Modi cup
Kidambi Srikanth had ended up on the losing side in the last two finals of the Syed Modi cup. This time, however, he put on an imperious display against Yuxiang Huang to win the final 21- , and lift the coveted trophy. But Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra lost a winnable match in the men's doubles, ending what could have been a double treat for India.
Srikanth took a 3-1 lead in the first set before Huang fought back to make it 4-3. Srikanth's jump smash on the next point ended Huang's hopes of drawing par – the only time Huang come close in the set. Srikanth was in very good touch as he raced to 8-3, the last point from a wonderful lunging return that left Huang, who had not expected it, rooted to the spot. But Huang replied with his own touch of magic as, in the next point, he sent a reflex backhand return with his back to the net that found Srikanth stranded.
Huang fought back to 7-9, but Srikanth again shut the door with a cross-court jump smash to reach the double digits. The next point saw Srikanth put on an amazing defensive show, returning Huang's smashes four consecutive times, before he finally let go of the point with a meek drive.
Srikanth was setting up Huang with drops at the net, which Huang returned with high lobs to the backcourt, only to see them come back as scorching jump smashes. Srikanth raced forward from 15-9 and did not let go of the advantage.
Srikanth reached set point with what was easily the best rally of the match. Srikanth found himself at the net facing Huang's smash but managed a reflex return. Huang, ran back to reach the shuttle just in time on the line and returned it with a between-the-legs shot, but Kidambi was at hand to finish off the return. Srikanth closed out the set with a characteristic jump smash from the backcourt.
In the second set, Srikanth took a 6-3 lead. Srikanth's defence once again came to the fore in the 10th point as he returned Huang's smashes three times and pulled himself out of the hole, only to disappoint with a smash that went wide finally.
Huang eventually drew par at 11-11 with a perfect return off a net smash by Srikanth. Finding previously hidden vigour, Huang lifted his game and raced to a 19-14 lead. Srikanth's attack, that had been his forte earlier, deserted him as he found himself losing the set 14-21.
In the third set, Srikanth lost the first three points. Huang's disguised placements were putting Srikanth in awkward positions, as he lost three more points to gain only one. With Srikanth on the backfoot, Huang was applying pressure across the court and was leading 7-2.
Two unforced errors from Huang let Srikanth back into the set. Taking the chance with both hands, Srikanth drew level, finally, at 8-8, before going ahead with a wonderful down-the-line smash.
Srikanth took a two-point advantage from 11-10 with an off-balance smash, but let Huang draw ahead again. Srikanth was positioning himself in the forecourt to counter Huang's netplay, but that left him exposed to the smashes - his awkward returns at 12-11 and 12-12 went wide to let Huang go up.
After another exchange of leads, Huang made a big protest at 13-14 against a line call on his smash which was clearly in but called out by the line umpire. His rightful challenge was turned down. Evidently irritated with losing his chance to draw par, he let Srikanth off the hook, and the Indian coasted through to win the set giving away only one point. He had clinched the crown on is third consecutive attempt.
In the men's doubles final, Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra won the first set comfortably, before losing a close second set. The pair saved a set point, but failed to convert two of their own and eventually succumbed to the pressure to lose the set 24-22. Demoralized, they lost badly in the third to lose the match 14-21, 24-22, 21-8 to V Goh and Wee Tan of Malaysia.