Indian badminton never had it so good on home soil. One can't complain though.World No. 1 Saina Nehwal and world No. 4 Kidambi Srikanth were playing. The crowd--raucous, colourful, delirious-was not disappointed. They jived, they danced and went back after witnessing history being created.
A super-aggressive Saina knocked the wind out of world No. 8 Ratchanok Intanon 21-16, 21-14 in a 50-minute show of smashes, flicks, fleet movements and complete control from the word go. The Thai girl could hardly find an answer to Saina's new-found status that spelt belligerence in capital letters. Saina opened up huge leads and tempted Ratchanok to play catch up. But Ratchanok had little fuel left in her tank to fight the ferocity of Saina's stinging smashes.
Srikanth was not too far behind. Though he lost the first game to sixth seed Viktor Axelsen, the boy from Guntur pulled counter-punches to carry the day 18-21, 21-13, 21-12. Srikanth, who was ranked No. 47 last year, has made it to the top 5 in just 14 months and promises to be where Saina is today . I didn't play my best in the first game. I was a little disappointed. I started the second game really well and it helped. In the third, it was 12-12 and after that there was no looking back. I got a few lucky net chords and my smashes came off rather well,“ said the ever-smiling and confident Srikanth.
China won the mixed doubles and men's doubles while a Japanese pair clinched the women's doubles title.
BAI president Akhilesh Das Gupta announced a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh to Saina for achieving the world No.1 spot and for winning the Yonex Sunrise India Open. He also announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for Srikanth for winning the men's title at the Siri Fort Stadium.
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