French Open: Srikanth comes from behind to surge into final
In an all-India men's semifinal, Kidambi Srikanth crawled from a game down to beat H.S. Prannoy 14-21, 21-19, 21-18.
Published : Oct 28, 2017 20:55 IST
Kidambi Srikanth’s dream season turned even better with his fifth entry into a Super Series final. In an all-India semifinal, Srikanth, who won the Denmark Open last week, came back from a set down to beat compatriot H.S. Prannoy 14-21, 21-18, 21-19 in 62 minutes.
Having already completed a hat-trick of Super Series titles, Srikanth will be aiming to win his fourth title of the season. He will meet Kenta Nishimoto of Japan, who defeated Anders Antonsen 21-17, 21-15 in the other semifinal.
Srikanth once again showed his stamina and ability to take the match deep even after Prannoy started on a rousing note with 2114 victory in the first game.
The second game was evenly contested as both the players gave nothing away to go neck-to-neck. From 14-all, Prannoy raced to a two-point lead at 19-17, but sadly couldn't hold on as Srikanth forced the decider.
The third game mirrored the second as Prannoy lost the lead just when it mattered the most to lose the semifinal. From a lead 18-16 lead, Prannoy lost the plot as Srikanth won five points in a row to register a clinical comeback for a place in the final.