Kidambi Srikanth takes on Sai Praneeth in an all-India Men's singles title match of 2017 Singapore Open at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
While the top seeds fell early in the ongoing tournament, the two unseeded shuttlers from India have made their way into the final after some impressive wins over in-form opponents. While Sai demolished South Korea's Lee Dong Keun 21-8 , 21-6 in the semi-final in just 38 minutes, Srikanth also made light work of his last-four opponent, Anthony Ginting of Indonesia yesterday.
While both shuttlers are expected to have good crowd support today, the one who handles the pressure better is likely to walk away with the title. Srikanth is used to big occasions as the 24-year-old already has a China Open (2014) and India Open (2015) titles under his belt and has also reached the quarter-final of Rio Olympics, in which he lost to Lin Dan.
The world number 29 is looking confident and is moving swiftly on the court as well as he has recovered well from a stress fracture he suffered during the end of last season. The former world number three is once again showing hunger to win major titles and his comfortable victory over All-England 2017 runner-up Shi Yuqi in the quarter-final showcased it.
On the other hand, Sai is featuring in his maiden Superseries final but the world number 30 has beaten the likes of Lee Chong Wei and Taufik Hidayat in the past. The 24-year-old also has an impressive 4-1 head-to-head record over Srikanth, with his last win coming at the semi-final of Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold earlier this year.
Having beaten in-form shuttlers of the likes of Emil Holst, Qiao Bin and Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk enroute to the title match, Sai will be hoping to put another one across Srikanth and win his maiden Superseries crown.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports 2
Malaysia: Astro Supersport
Singapore: StarHub Sports
