Kiran George maintains aggressive intent to win Indonesia Masters Super 100 badminton title | Badminton News
Leading 16-11 in the second game against Koo Takahashi of Japan in the Indonesia Masters final, Kiran George missed an easy tap. He had similarly botched an 16-12 lead in the semifinal against Tommy Sugiarto and got dragged into a decider. On Sunday, he got shaky for a point or two and played loose shots. But determined to nail down his first title of 2023, Kiran would stick to aggressive play and close out the match 21-19, 22-20 to win the Super 100 final.
“He was in good flow, and had momentum at 16-11 when that make happened. Maybe memories of yesterday crossed his mind, but Kiran just pushed harder. He didn’t stop playing aggressive with those downward shots,” coach Sagar Chopda would say later.
Kiran has wins against Chinese stars Shi Yu Qi and Weng Hong Yang, and a title previously at the Odisha Open. But it took him a while to string together a week of wins, and it all came together in Indonesia. And for someone who has a wide repertoire of variations from the back court, including half- smashes and deceptive clears, Kiran broke through the tedium of continuous straight drops to hit through from the faster side and snatch this win.
Loran George in action. (BAI/File)
The 23-year-old from Kochi was up against World No.82 Takahashi, who belongs to the next crop of Japanese players. Blessed with good footspeed and adept at the net, Takahashi kept up with Kiran in both games before the Indian showed the gumption to close out with aggressive winners.
The Japanese youngster trailed 9-11 in the opener, but levelled at 12-12 after a long, gruelling retrieving rally. Moving well in the backcourt and in front, and armed with straight smashes and net charges, Takahashi compelled Kiran to hit top gear. To the Indian’s credit, he didn’t back off, and sent deep smashes to Takahashi’s backhand to lead 19-16. Kiran would also reel off tall backhand cross-flicks, but found himself at 20-19. He would show good finishing with steep strokes to take the opener.
The Indian would respond to the missed tap with sharp drops and whippy lifts from the net drawing out net errors in the second to lead 17-13. Once again, Takahashi increased the pace of play and caught Kiran at the lines as the score reached 19-19.
Kiran’s determined aggression would come to the fore then. A tight dribble would be followed a backhand net push winner to the back to reach 20-19. Even though Takahashi saved that match point, Kiran would wrap up the match with two assertive downward smashes. Throughout the tournament, Kiran has shown great temperament to close out games and matches against sticky opponents.
“His down shots were very sharp through the week, though he played on four courts with four different conditions. Today while finishing, even when I told him to play down the line, he was bold enough to go across. That’s confidence,” Chopda would say. “The desperation to win a tournament worked.”Most Read
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The World No.50 Indian, who will jump to No.38 after the title, gritted it out against Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul, Japan’s Takuma Obayashi, Singapore’s Jia Wei Joel Koh and Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu Kai before downing seasoned pro Sugiarto in the semis.
“This is a decent win for his confidence, and he should continue and look for upsets in Hong Kong next week,” Kiran’s coach in Bangalore, Vimal Kumar said. “These youngsters, looking to make it big, need to apply themselves. Even at 18-15, they should learn to not be anxious, get complacent or get tight. And should remain in the moment,” Vimal said about Kiran’s improved finishing skills.
He added that Kiran sometimes gets satisfied with wins, and relaxes. “I told him he has five more matches to go in Hong Kong. But he’s been doing all the right things – stretches before sleeping, mobility in the morning. It’s important he keeps converting close matches into wins. He’s won close grinding matches and survived to win this week,” Vimal would say.
