French Open Super 750: How Srikanth Kidambi got out of a tough match with a surprisingly error-free performance

His court-side folk will insist – “It’s only the first round, it’s nothing. He needs to play at a good level tomorrow.” But Srikanth’s 21-15, 20-22, 21-8 win over Chou Tien Chen at the French Open will remain a happy story until the next time he grabs a loss from the jaws of victory.

Former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth goes up against Chou Tien Chen.#BWFWorldTour #FrenchOpen2024 pic.twitter.com/UOBbvOEkn3

— BWF (@bwfmedia) March 6, 2024

About a month ago, Srikanth lost a team medal tie to Japan, after being 19-12 up in the decider in the Badminton Asia Championship. Top of the head, similar implosions can be recalled from Hong Kong, Birmingham and Hangzhou. His fretting fans have slumped wretchedly to empathy, and even his staunchest critics bite back on twisting the knife after he fell to Kento Momota after a 10-point meltdown, two points away from victory.

So, when playing his opening round against the Taiwanese Chou in Paris, Srikanth arrived at the familiar 19-18 juncture in the second game having won the first, many sensed a familiar tripping.

He had actually been playing rather brilliantly in hard-fought rallies going 21-15 up and took the 19-18 lead after a 32-shot exchange of excellent shuttle-control and composed defence.

But at that crucial juncture, the pumpkin chariot trotted to the doorstep to ferry him back to misery. He floated the next shot ridiculously wide. A gentle, silken net tumble gave him match-point at 20-19. But in typical Srikanth style, the 31-year-old sent the next even wider, and after a net error, sent Chou’s clever flick-serve ballooning out of bounds to go down 20-22. Dissections of his frail mentality began buffering.

About a month ago, Srikanth lost a team medal tie to Japan, after being 19-12 up in the decider in the Badminton Asia Championship.

Except, a different Srikanth had turned up on this Wednesday.

A startling statistic was his low number of errors from smashes smacked wide; just 4. His net unforced errors — 5. Errant clears — 5. Only 14 off 45 is a surprisingly low count for someone whose frustrating error counts drive his followers up the wall, and give his opponents hope even if he’s sitting on a 19-12 lead.

Pleasant surprise

Against Chou, Srikanth didn’t come out in the decider raging to prove a point. He just backed himself to strike solidity with a sprinkling of shot-making splendour.

The signature cross smashes came as he grew in confidence. Through the first game, he was determined to hit smashes deep and straight so that he wasn’t trying his luck at the lines. In the decider, as he broke away at 6-4, he confidently strode to the net with assured steps, dashing to the front and slicing at the shuttle with what is probably the world’s best backhand net kill. The point at 12-5 was the most gorgeous of them all, and though he was traipsing around, there was no trampoline underneath.

Chou was forced into a medical break at 6-4 when he grazed his knee, and instead of grabbing a breather on the seat, Srikanth went to coach Parupalli Kashyap who loaded his brain with strategy and some spirited stimuli. Srikanth began gliding around the court now, bouncing with confidence and dispatching Chou left, then right with a full array of pointy shots from his quiver.

Srikanth dumped two into the net at 16-7 and 16-8. And because one might find a couple of exhibits of him losing even from that big a cushion, another nightmare couldn’t be ruled out. Instead, he smashed across — four straight times — within confines, to race to a 21-8 last-game win.

The opening game had set the tone though, enough to know that the ’19 jinx’ might not be able to thwart him like it usually does. Srikanth never relies on the smash for winners, though he has a fair few lethal ones in his arsenal. It’s the 99 percent smash followed up by the stomp to the net for a speedy slicing kill that he employed swiftly.

He was also prepared to do the hard work in defence, not just diving, but also had the humility to accept that even three of his best steep smashes might get retrieved. But what was refreshing was how he made playing the lines low-risk, sticking to within half a foot of the side boundary. Kidambi Srikanth liberating himself from errors was refreshing.

The shot selection remained decisive, and good fitness meant he wasn’t panting when drawn into playing the extra two shots in a rally. He looked like he had put in the hard yards on physical fortitude, and the rumbling confidence showed mentally, as he finally won without rendering everyone watching into nail-biting wrecks.