Kidambi Srikanth defeated World No.1 Son Wan Ho 21-15, 14-21, 24-22 after saving a match point in the deciding game to become the first Indian man to reach the final of the Indonesia Open, in Jakarta on Saturday. He also became the first Indian man to make the final at back-to-back Superseries events.
However, HS Prannoy's inspired run came to an end after he lost to Japan's Kazumasa Sakai 21-17, 26-28, 18-21 in the other semi-final. Sakai saved five match points in a marathon second game as Prannoy struggled to close out the match.
Srikanth won the very first point with his famed smash and was aggressive in the early exchanges but both the players struggled with drift and left a couple that landed comfortably within the baseline. Srikanth won three of his first seven points via crosscourt or body smashes and led 11-6 at the changeover as Son made a lot of uncharacteristic errors.
Son started to chip away at the lead after the changeover as Srikanth struggled with the drift and pushed a few shuttles wide on Son's backhand. However, Srikanth's smash was in good working order and he kept attacking Son to open up a six-point lead at 18-12. Son's net play let him down as Srikanth converted his second game point opportunity to run through the opening game in just 17 minutes.
Son tried to attack Srikanth in the second game but the strategy did not seem to work as Srikanth edged ahead 6-2. Srikanth's all-out aggression resulted in a few errors but Son's failure to put a couple of smashes away meant that Srikanth led 11-10 at the changeover.
The resurgent Son won seven points consecutively to lead 17-13 as Srikanth started to mistime his shots. The errors started to flow for Srikanth as Son won 11 of the last 12 points in the second game.
The deciding game saw both the players exchange the lead but Son edged ahead as Srikanth failed to capitalise on a couple of short lifts from Son. Son had a one-point advantage at the changeover. Both players stayed within touching distance of each other and were level till 19-19 before Son won a match point after a long rally.
However, both players failed to capitalise on their first match opportunity. Srikanth failed to put a smash away while leading 22-21 before finally converting his third match point after one hour and 12 minutes.
With this win, Srikanth improved his head-to-head record to 3-4 against Son; he had lost his last four matches against Son. Srikanth is the only Indian man to win a Superseries Premier, Superseries and Grand Prix Gold event.
He will play in his fourth Superseries final on Sunday. He won the China Open in 2014 and India Open in 2015 before losing to compatriot B Sai Praneeth in the final of the Singapore Open earlier this year.
In the other semi-final, Sakai, who had not faced any seeded players in the tournament, was slow to get off the blocks as Prannoy led 8-3 in the opening game. The Indian continued to lead for the rest of the game and won it in 19 minutes after Sakai saved two game points.
Sakai, who had entered the main draw after progressing from the qualifiers, put on a much-improved display in the opening stages of the second game to lead 11-5 at the changeover.
However, Prannoy fought back to draw level at 18-18 but failed to convert five match point opportunities as Sakai won the game in 32 minutes.
Sakai rode on the confidence of winning the second game to take a 6-2 lead in the decider. Prannoy trailed 9-11 at the changeover and Sakai, who is ranked 22 places below Prannoy in the world rankings at 47, increased the lead to six points at 17-11.
Prannoy narrowed the deficit to two points at 17-19 but Sakai converted his second match point to win in one hour and 17 minutes. Both Prannoy and Sakai were appearing in their first Superseries semi-final. Their only previous meeting was at the Indonesia Open in 2013, also won by Sakai 21-13, 14-21, 21-17.
Prannoy defeated home favourite Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the first round and six-time champion Lee Chong Wei in the second round. He then defeated the reigning Olympic, World and Asian Champion Chen Long in the quarterfinals on Friday in a grueling three-game match.
Prannoy, who is coming off a three-month-long injury break, had qualified for the main draw of the tournament after a couple of players pulled out. He is slated to take part in next week's Australian Open, where he is drawn to face Sakai in the first round of the qualifiers.