Srikanth clinches French Open, marks fourth Super Series title of the year

Kidambi Srikanth dominated right from the start of the tie to carve out a 21-14, 21-13 win over Kenta Nishimoto and clinch the French Open title, which is his fourth Super Series title of the year.

Srikanth Kidambi poses with his French Open title after defeating Kenta Nishimoto in the final.

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth defeated Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in straight games to win the men’s singles title at the French Open Super Series here on Sunday.

Srikanth dominated the tie right from the start and carved out a 21-14, 21-13 win in 34 minutes. With Sunday’s win, the eighth seeded Indian improved his head-to-head statistics against the unseeded Japanese to 2-0.

AS IT HAPPENED

Srikanth is the first male shuttler from India to qualify for the French Open final. The victory also made him the fourth male player in the history of the game to win four Super Series singles titles in a calendar year.

Srikanth struggled in the early stages of the first game with the Japanese taking a 9-5 lead, but he made a strong comeback to force the lead at 11-9.The Indian did not look back from there, going on to win the opening game.

READ: Srikanth attributes French Open triumph to mental strength

Srikanth dominated the second game right from the start, opening up a 10-5 lead. He held on to the advantage and took the game with ease.

Indonesian pairs win women's and mixed doubles titles

Earlier, the Indonesian pair of Greysia Polli and Apriyani Rahayu defeated South Korea’s Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan in straight games to clinch the women’s doubles title. The Indonesians took 55 minutes to outclass the South Korean pair 21-17, 21-15.

In the first game, the Indonesians took a 3-0 lead in the early stages before the South Koreans fought back to draw level at 7-7. However, the Indonesians won three consecutive points to regain the advantage. They did not look back from there, beating back a spirited fight from the Koreans to take the first game.

The early stages of the second game saw a see-saw battle before the Indonesians took four consecutive points to gain the upper hand. The Koreans however, continued to put up a spirited fight winning five back to back points to level the score at 13-13.

But it did not prove to be enough as Polli and Rahayu claimed six consecutive points to close out the game and the match.

The mixed doubles title went to the Indonesian pair of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir who defeated China’s Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 22-20, 21-15 in 45 minutes.

The Chinese pair took a 9-3 lead in the first game, before the Indonesians clinched four consecutive points to draw level. With the momentum firmly behind them, the Indonesian pair survived a see-aw battle to take the first game.

The early stages of the second game saw a neck and neck fight before the Indonesians claimed six consecutive points to clinch the issue.