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Srikanth lifts Australian Open Super Series

By The Assam Tribune

SYDNEY, June 25: A resolute Kidambi Srikanth clinched his fourth Super Series title with an incredible straight-game triumph over reigning Olympic and world champion Chen Long in the Australian Open final here today.

The World No. 11 Srikanth won 22-20, 21-16 in a 45-minute clash against the World No. 6 Chinese, who is also a two-time All England champion.

The triumph is his second successive after clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier title last week.

�As a whole I played very well, but since I arrived in Sydney I have gastroenteritis and have had diarrhoea, so I have not been at my best physical condition. But since I made the final I wanted to continue to play as well as I could,� an ecstatic Srikanth said after the victory.

�It�s just that I�m not thinking of winning or losing. I missed competitive badminton and wanted to enjoy the match. It�s like it happened because I missed that period of competitive badminton. It�s like I wanted to hang in and play as many matches as possible,� he added.

Entering the summit showdown, Srikanth was only the fifth player in the world to contest three successive Super Series finals (Singapore and Indonesia prior to this).

The Indian, a semifinalist 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.

�These conditions are such that you can�t really attack, it�s a bit slow, you have to be prepared for a long match. In all the breaks I had the advantage, the coach told me to keep it going, not to make simple mistakes and allow him back into the match. My attack worked really well,� Srikanth said.

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 the Indian was no pushover and played the catch-up game quite well, coming up with a couple of brilliant smashes of his own.

�I�m playing better after the Sudirman Cup. I should thank my physio for keeping me fit for these two tournaments. It was tough for me on Tuesday and Wednesday,� he said. � PTI

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