Indian shuttler K. Srikanth entered the final of the Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after registering a comfortable straight-game victory over local favourite Thammasin Sitthikom in the men’s singles event in Bangkok on Saturday.
Srikanth, seeded 13th, took 43 minutes to overcome his opponent 21-14 21-18 at the Nimitbutr National Stadium here.
He will take on the winner of the other semifinal match between Boonsak Ponsana and Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo.
In the first game, World no. 61 Srikanth opened up a slender 6-2 lead but Sitthikom soon caught up with the Indian to make it 6-7.
The 20-year-old then registered eight consecutive points to surge ahead 15-6. He kept on widening the gap to make it 20-7.
But just a point away from sealing off the opening game, the Thai bagged seven points on the trot to reduce the gap to 14-20. However, in the end, Srikanth pocketed the game comfortably.
Sitthikom came back strongly in the second game and turned the heat on Srikanth. Despite the Indian getting off to a good start with a 5-1 lead, the local shuttler fought his way back, and the two were tied at 7-7.
Thereafter, it was a neck-and-neck contest till 17-17 before Srikanth managed to win three straight points to move ahead 20-17.
Sitthikom could win another point before the Indian shut the door on the Thai.
