Kidambi Srikanth is undoubtedly the best men’s singles shuttler to emerge out of India, but his form has been woeful in the last couple of years.
On Thursday, India’s former World No. 1 shuttler in men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth lost in straight games to Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Chen Ting 16-21, 15-21. Srikanth, losing in the first and second rounds is nothing new, considering the “poor” form he has been in. In fact, he was not even close to making it to the Paris Olympics, which just sums up his career off late.
But what is even more alarming is the fact, that at the Malaysia Super 100, he lost to a player who was ranked 158 in the world. Yes, Yen-Chen Ting can be talented, for all we know, but that is very unlike Srikanth like, when in his element, he would just run over the best in the world, let alone the upcoming players, making a transition from the juniors to seniors.
Kidambi Srikanth’s 2024, In a Nutshell
Does that actually mean, Srikanth is all but over? Perhaps. Or, his far from impressive 2024 speaks a thousand words. Let’s dig a little deep into this. It all started with Malaysia Open in January, where he lost in the second round, after going down to NG Ka Long Angus in straight games.
India open first round exit followed. This time he lost in straight games to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu. Indonesia Masters saw him crash out at the start itself, and his opponent was Lee Zii Jia. Thailand Open was second round exit, French Open too, while All England Open did not even go that far.
The best result came for Srikanth, only when he managed to make the semis at the Swiss Open, where he managed to beat Lee Zii. Since then, March, the 31-year-old has managed one quarters appearance. That all combined could indeed be just a sign, that the Srikanth era is a thing of the past.
TBH, the legend who is a former World Championships silver medalist, isn’t getting any younger, and unfortunately hasn’t shown the zeal and motivation to be among the best in the world. If that is not a signal enough, back in January, after exiting from India Open, he had said, “Frankly, I’ve been at the Olympics in 2016 while I missed out by a very small margin last time. So I’ve seen that, I’ve seen this. So it doesn’t really matter to me anymore. If I win tournaments, I’ll be there. If I don’t, I’ll not be there. It doesn’t bother me much. For me, it is about just winning.”
This statement certainly seals the deal. And this could be it.
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