Canada Open badminton: Srikanth Kidambi misses golden chance to end title drought, loses rollercoaster semifinal in three games

Indian Express

2 days ago

Srikanth Kidambi's semifinal at the Canada Open Super 300 in Ontario presented a golden opportunity to end the BWF World Tour title drought. With Kodai Naraoka losing the other semifinal, it was a big chance for Srikanth to go all the way… but, in the here and now, Kenta Nishimoto wasn't going to be easy to overcome. He is not the kind of player Srikanth – at least the more recent version – likes facing. The Indian led the Head-to-Head coming into the contest but hadn't faced Nishimoto, world No 12, since 2023. As it turned out, Srikanth lost a topsy-turvy contest 21-19, 14-21, 18-21 in 78 minutes, a match that he both controlled and struggled to control in various phases.
A 24-shot rally in the early stages was an indication of the challenge that Srikanth would face against Nishimoto but also a good sign for the Indian as he was willing to stay in the point patiently. Both players struggled with their radar in the first half of the opening game, especially on the crosscourt shots. Srikanth did have success with a couple of half-smashes across the court and levelled things at 10-10 with one of those.
Earlier in the tournament, he had Priyanshu Rajawat on coaching duties, a day after taking on and defeating the youngster who he trains with in Hyderabad. On Saturday, it was Sankar Subramanian – who had stretched Nishimoto in the quarterfinal a day before – on coaching duties for Srikanth, who trailed 10-11 at the mid-game interval of the opener. The Indian moved ahead into the lead after the interval but there was very little to separate them till 15-15.
The rally at 15-15 saw Srikanth win the point with the rush and kill at the net that he employed to great effect at Malaysia Masters until his run to the final. He kept his nose ahead from there and Nishimoto was left standing with his hands on hips as Srikanth took the opening game with a little bit of help from the net cord. Top of the tape, the shuttle fell on the other side. Srikanth won 4 straight points from 16-18 down.
In Game 2, a sensational challenge from Srikanth right out of the interval – a down-the-line smash was called out – was a measure of how well the Indian was seeing the bird fly, and it helped him take a 12-8 lead. But Nishimoto is known for his tenacity on court, and Srikanth's unforced errors started to creep in as the third seed made it a 1-point game at 11-12. The point at 12-12 was one of the best of the match as Srikanth dictated the tempo on attack while Nishimoto threw himself around on the court in defence before the Indian eventually won the 36-shot exchange, the longest of the match.
But Srikanth couldn't press the advantage from there on as Nishimoto opened up a 17-14 lead with a fabulous backhand defensive block. That seemed to take the fight out of Srikanth as the lead soon swelled to 20-14 on the back of three straight errors from the Indian's racket. Nishimoto needed just one game point to take the match into a decider as Srikanth's indecision in the backcourt – not for the first time in this sequence of points – cost him.
Srikanth started the third game like he was hungover from the ending of the second, making bizarre mistakes on the sidelines and sliding to a 1-6 deficit. He started to pump himself up with the few points that he won, perhaps trying to will himself back into the match that he appeared to be in control of not that long ago. An inside-out crosscourt winner from Srikanth for 4-7 floored Nishimoto, who does tend to go down on the court needlessly at times to force a mopping break. He did it again at 6-8 as Srikanth's backhand clear appeared to wrong-foot him.
The Indian let out his biggest roar yet as he raced into the lead at 9-8, on a run of five straight points, made it 10-8 with another self-affirming roar, and took a three-point lead into the final change of ends after a wasted review from Nishimoto, who suddenly lost all of his momentum.
At 14-9, Srikanth looked to be in a comfortable lead but a couple of missed smashes – first into the net and then just wide of the sideline – were gloomy reminders that the match wasn't a done deal just yet. A backhand smash from Srikanth swung back into the court with sideways drift and helped the Indian to a 15-12 lead but Nishimoto refused to go away. The third seed made it 17-17 as Srikanth missed the entire green playing area with his attempted forehand lift. The point at 17-17 was a sensational effort from the Indian, throwing himself around on the ground before nailing a round-the-head smash winner.
But in the blink of an eye, Nishimoto had two match points as Srikanth's attempt hold-and-flick proved to be the wrong choice at the end of an otherwise good rally. And eventually, the match ended with an unforced error from Srikanth. It is how he has always played – pushing the lines, always tending towards the more attacking option, but he'd be ruing those errors at the start and end of Game 3.
Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assistant Editor and is based in New Delhi. ... Read More