India's Kidambi Srikanth defeated fourth seed Yuqi Shi 21-10, 21-14 from China to reach his maiden Australian Open final in Sydney on Saturday. The match lasted 37 minutes.
With this win, Srikanth became the first Indian male badminton player to reach three back-to-back Superseries finals. He had previously reached the final at the Singapore Open -- where he lost against compatriot B Sai Praneeth -- and won the title at the Indonesia Open last week. He further bettered his own display at the tournament, which is also now the best display by an Indian in the men's singles event. His previous best was a semi-final appearance in 2016.
He had previously defeated qualifier Kan Chao Yu, World no. 1 Son Wan Ho and Praneeth in the first two rounds and quarterfinal respectively and will next face Olympic gold medallist Chen Long from China in the final.
The first game started with Srikanth's first point coming from his trademark powerful smash. As he led 3-1 in the initial few minutes, Yuqi, ranked 4th in the world, utilized his swift movements to level at 4-4. Srikanth displayed a variety of strokes as he led 11-7, attacking Shi's backhand, pushing him deep to open up the forehand court. He capitalised on the spaces that he opened up by playing a lot of crosscourt drops and half smashes.
Moving all across the court, Srikanth's tactics in the first game were similar to his countryman HS Prannoy's tactics against Chen Long, another Chinese player, at the Indonesia Open. Srikanth controlled the points from the front court -- his net play being extremely deceptive as he often pushed Shi deep before unleashing his smashes.
Shi, who had reached the final at the All England Open earlier this year, struggled, as he netted several crucial shots and missed points via misjudgement, giving a 19-10 lead to Srikanth. He soon took advantage of the lead, scoring two quick points to win the game 21-10 in 15 minutes.
The second game followed a similar pattern, with Srikanth leading 4-2, before Shi attempted a turn-around by winning three consecutive points - the highlight being a brilliant crosscourt shot that went beyond the net by inches - to take a lead at 5-4. After Shi drew level at 7-7, Srikanth used his deceptive style of play to his advantage by dominating with his forehand, forcing Shi to net shots, taking a lead of 11-7 at the changeover. Shi seemed lost for ideas as Srikanth's vast experience and superior net play meant that he had to play out of his comfort zone.
Continuing to display dominant form, Srikanth controlled the game, taking a six-point lead through his powerful play and crosscourt smashes at 14-8. Shi scored three consecutive points thereafter, using his speed to his advantage. However, the difference turned out to be too much as Srikanth continued to force him to lose points through a range of flicks to lead 19-13. It was perhaps fitting that Srikanth opened up a match point opportunity with a typical steep smash. He then converted his second opportunity with a thumping crosscourt smash to book a place in the final.