Indian shuttler K. Srikanth routed local favorite Thammasin Sitthikom in the men’s singles event in the Nimitbutr National Stadium at Bangkok on Saturday to enter the final round of the Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament.
The 13th seeded Indian took 43 minutes to get the better of his opponent by 21-14 21-18. Later he will lock horns with the winner of the other semifinal match between Boonsak Ponsana and Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo. World no. 61 Srikanth launched a narrow 6-2 lead but Sitthikom soon caught up with the Indian to make it 6-7 during the first game.
Amazingly, the 20-year-old further registered eight consecutive points to pitch ahead 15-6. He continued to increase the gap to make it 20-7. Just at the verge of closing of the opening game, the Thai scored seven points on the trot to minimize the gap to 14-20. But at the end, Srikanth won the game comfortably.
During the second game, Sitthikom returned strongly and turned the heat on Srikanth. The Indian got off to a good start with a 5-1 lead, however the local shuttler fought his way back and the duo were tied at 7-7. Actually, it was a head on collision contest till 17-17. At last Srikanth managed to win three straight points to march ahead with 20-17. Further, Sitthikom could win another point before Srikanth shut the door on the Thai.
