Sunchoen: India’s campaign at the Korea Open Badminton Championships ended as world championships silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth went down 19-21, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the semifinal here on Saturday. This was Srikanth’s second straight loss against the Indonesian. The two players last met in Swiss Open, where Jonatan had beaten Srikanth in three games in a semifinal last month. Earlier, former world champion P V Sindhu suffered a 14-21, 17-21 loss at the hands of local favourite An Se-young in a semifinal. In the opening game, both Jonatan and Srikanth exchanged points at the start before the latter sent a smash down the line and another cross court shot to open the gap. Then, Jonatan earned a series of points aided by his brilliant court presence. But a few unforced errors from him helped Srikanth reach 11-8 at the time of break. The Indoensian took three points to erase Srikanth’s lead after the break. The Indian kept winning points but Jonatan’s defence made things difficult for him as the Indonesian drew level at 17-17. A cross net drop shot from Srikanth gave him a point but he fumbled with a wide smash in the next point and the score read 18-all. Jonatan then won two points to set up his game point, which Srikanth saved. The Indonesian then took the next to win the opener 21-19. In the second game, the Indonesian changed the pace and went to up 3-0 before netting one and hitting the next one out. Srikanth kept giving away points through unforced errors and trailed 3-7 before making it 7-6. Then, Jonatan’s fierce smashes helped him take a 11-8 lead at the breather. Srikanth shifted gears post break, reducing the lead and went ahead at 14-13. The Indonesian then swung the game in his favour, winning five points in a row and soon went through to the final by taking the second set 21-16. UNI BAV MR
