Kidambi Srikanth knocks out Chou Tien Chen, sets up tantalising battle with HS Prannoy in Japan Open Super 750 | Badminton News

Oftentimes, unbridled attack and smashing errors are two sides of the same coin for Kidambi Srikanth. He struggles to turn the error tap off because he plays so much to the lines. On good days, these look like sensational winners. On the many bad days, he cops criticism for playing reckless, error-prone badminton. But it is when he can discipline his instinct, control the fast shuttle which he likes that he comes close to realising his potential. On Tuesday in Tokyo, it was vintage Srikanth that overcame Taiwanese Chou Tien-Chen, the world No 8, winning 21-13, 21-13 in Round 1 of the Japan Open Super 750.
He eschewed playing to the lines, but you suspect that came from his confidence in his net game where he completely dominated. He had Chou in such a tizzy, pinned at the 33-year-old’s forecourt forehand corner, that it opened up the rest of the court for Srikanth to comfortably play the straight smash well within the tramlines, without flirting with the lines fearing the shuttle to be retrieved on Chou’s backhand side.
This he did with an accurate straight racqueted backhand net push. Srikanth has always had perfect footwork charging the net and the hand skills. It is the precision that usually wavers like it did against Kento Momota last week at Korea in the first round. But not on this day.

Our Tuesday morning just got much better 🤩
Srikanth defeated WR-8 Chou Tien Chen in straight games, entered pre-quarters in style 🔥💯
📸: @badmintonphoto #JapanOpen2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/XwJVqsGChc
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) July 25, 2023
Right from the very first point, his control on the net backhand push was exquisite. A straight winner to midcourt fell on the yawning open court as early as 6-2, and the very next point, Srikanth showed good defense against Chou smashes to take a 7-2 lead. At 10-5, he would draw out a long error from Chou, but it was the consent backhand net shot that opened up a 14-8 lead for the former World No 1, who is now down to No 20 in the rankings.
At 18-13 came a defining moment. Playing a tight dribble showing immense wr control with his backhand to the left of the net, Srikanth would pounce on the return for a followup on the right side. Keeping Chou mentally engaged at the net meant, Srikanth could hit a cross smash to Chou’s backhand the very next instance for 19-13, and soon win the opener 21-13.
Srikanth would hit a smash to Chou’s backhand pretty early in the second, and be emboldened to send one at 3-1 kissing the backline, though the line call upset Chou. The Indian would play a slightly more riskier game with shots to the lines as the second set wore on, but the lead wasn’t threatened. Srikanth went into the break at 11-6, with Chou smashing wide. Srikanth prevailed in the fast exchange at 13-7, and had a wonderful reflex defensive winner at 17-13.
A long rally would follow, where after diving retrieves and being sharp at the net, Chou would hit into the net at 18-13. Superb in-rally acceleration would again see Srikanth’s backhand winner from the net at 19-13. The next point was promptly a smash to Chou’s backhand as had been the tone set in the match. Chou would end up in the net at 21-13 to lose with an identical scoreline.
Five of his last seven losses on the circuit against both Top Tenners and rank outsiders had come in a rather one-sided decider. So it was imperative for Srikanth to be alert from the outset, slash down on the errors and finish in two. Currently third in the Olympic qualification race behind Prannoy and Lakshya Sen (who both have recent Super 500 titles), Srikanth needs to go deep into draws to collect more points, though his dipping ranking has meant tougher earlier rounds.
Srikanth vs Prannoy next
Another Top Tenner – World No 10 HS Prannoy – awaits Srikanth in the second round. The highest ranked Indian scored a good commanding win against World No 5 Li Shifeng, 21-17, 21-13. Dominating similarly along the diagonal, Shifeng managed no look-ins after Prannoy took the lead at 7-6 in the opener. The Indian even led the Chinese 6-0 in the second, and managed to keep a 5-point lead against the US Open Super 300 title winner, at all times. Moving and anticipating well around the court, Prannoy allowed Shifeng no leeway.

Prannoy comfortably beats #AllEngland2023 champion, sets up an all 🇮🇳 pre-quarters clash 🔥🙌
📸: @badmintonphoto#JapanOpen2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/TT4yy8POzI
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) July 25, 2023
Prannoy has played five quarterfinals this year in 2023, and will be looking to make his sixth at Japan. Srikanth leads the head to head 6-2, but they last faced off against each other in 2021 before Prannoy’s ascendance to Top Ten started. Remarkably consent over the last one year, this pre-quarter with Srikanth on Thursday comes at an interesting juncture, when Srikanth is struggling to string together wins while Prannoy is making weekend knockouts of tournaments.
Another all-India match in the Round of 32 will put the youngsters Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat against each other on Wednesday. All that pans out in Tokyo is geared towards qualification for Paris for India’s leading men’s singles shuttlers.