Malaysia Masters: Despite final defeat, Srikanth Kidambi rediscovers the high of playing on Sundays on his pursuit of happiness

Indian badminton, in general doldrums, had little time to mope solely over Srikanth. The plummet has been for pretty much every big name in the last two years. So Srikanth was surprised that people missed him. “My chair umpire was also asking where have I been. I didn’t know people missed me,” he said. For someone who daydreamed of these scenarios before life and wretched ankle injuries caught up with him – this re-emergence of oblivion was a merry realisation.

In 2017, after 4 titles across Indonesia, Denmark, France and Australia, to go with a final in Singapore, Srikanth had confidently said, “I want to win like Lin Dan – over 5 World Championship medals.” But it goes back even further. “So basically going back to 2001 when Gopi bhaiyya had won the All England. I kind of started imagining myself playing on the centre court with only lights projecting on my court. I’ve always dreamt of it,” he explained on Sunday.

Badminton, played in massive multipurpose indoor arenas, don’t have a fixed centre court. Competition is spread over four courts at least simultaneously, and applause from one can easily overshadow drama on an adjacent court and make the whole experience underwhelming. But as the draw whittles down, Sunday finals are centred on one main centre court, and the dark halls shower spotlight on the playing area, making it very special for finalists. In India, only a bunch of shuttlers – Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth, HS Prannoy, Satwik-Chirag, and Lakshya Sen, besides Srikanth have experienced this at the highest level. “It’s always good to play such matches, and again, unless you reach finals, it doesn’t happen. So I’m happy to be playing that again,” he added.

The rustiness – he was at this level after many years – showed on Sunday. Plus, Shifeng with his mega-power game, was ruthless with his high-wattage smashes. Srikanth tried pinning him to corners, but made several errors trying to breach that long-levered defense. He was outplayed but showed flashes of brilliance, like a 46-shot rally that saw him prevail with a pristine reverse slice push at the net. But in the end, he had to be happy about the stoic acceptance of the loss and celebrate a little having come through the qualifiers to play a seventh match in six days as a World No 65.

Moreover, everywhere he went, people told him they were happy to see him again.

Playing big finals – walking into that rectangular spotlight – makes Srikanth happy. And it’s only that feeling of happiness he’s hunting down. But it’s taken a Groundhog Day routine in training, with nothing spectacular to show, and unreal discipline to keep showing up, before he even got to Finals Day.

Srikanth during the final at the Malaysia Masters. He was outplayed but showed flashes of brilliance, like a 46-shot rally that saw him prevail with a pristine reverse slice push at the net. (BWF)

Steadily building up

His trainer Sumansh Sivalanka says Srikanth’s everyday discipline has been so undramatic and mundane that his respect for both Srikanth and Prannoy, the “seniors”, grew simply watching them consistently keep at it, with no ribbons and prize on the near horizon. “I wish juniors could learn how disciplined Srikanth is,” Sumansh says first up. “It’s been steady capacity-building to just bring resilience and strength in tissues that were broken,” he adds.

Srikanth had a fall at the Singapore Open last year that forced him to take a break. But things went dire start of 2024, the Olympics qualification period, when his knee and heel both acted up and put the brakes on his ambition to make it to Paris. “After that, we took our own sweet time to let it heal. Srikanth was still working on his core and upper body, but the decisions we took to not rush him back helped. What you see this week, the preparation for it started last August. The results are visible only now,” Sumansh says.

There wasn’t a waving of a wand or a dramatic turnaround – just uncountable days spent increasing the load gradually. His rankings went into free fall, and the only bright spot was that the injuries were caught early, and he was pulled back. “Thankfully, no surgery needed; we managed conservatively. He knew it was a matter of time, but it takes maturity to step back, get stronger.” And stay silent, even if the dreams of that finals spotlight torment.

Srikanth was never scared, Sumansh says, and never lost self-belief. “He didn’t stop showing up for training. Maintained sleep habits, diet, and kept an ideal weight. He can eat the same thing day in, day out for months and years. And sleep at the same time. Nobody had to tell him, elites know,” he said. Capacity building to take heavy training loads, happens in silence. Without Insta Reels and stop watch numbers displayed. “There’s no magic. Just consistency. But he’s kept fitness even in three weeks of travel and tournaments (Taipei, Thailand and Malaysia). Fitness can drop off if you don’t have the home set-up. But he is lifting, running no matter what. “He saw an opportunity in Malaysia and grabbed it,” Sumansh adds.

Srikanth knew he was ready when he could do everything the coach asked of him in training – those sessions where heart rates can hit the roof of human capacity. But the real proof was in playing seven matches, recovering and fighting freshly the next day.

Is he back to old levels? Perhaps not yet, though his natural agility to jump and land is back to elite levels. “His jump smash of 2015 and of 2025 is the same,” Sumansh says. They measured. “There are scientific limitations to physiological capacity as you age. But he can get better.”

Srikanth likes fewer things better than playing tournament finals, and there are fewer things still he considers as a day spent well. Li Shifeng has had the better of him for a while now and this was a drubbing. But if 2017 was any indication, Srikanth’s courage rises with every attempt to intimidate him. Now that he’s tasted Finals again, and he’s feeling fit, he will chase them. Sundays again.