BAI announces cash reward for shuttler Srikanth

Badminton Association of India (BAI) President Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh for Kidambi Srikanth, who clinched the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier in Jakarta on Sunday.

Srikanth, who has picked up on his form after a slow start to the season due to injury, was in his ravishing best as he beat World No.1 Son Wan Ho of South Korea to enter the finals and picked up a flawless straight game victory over Kazumasa Sakai of Japan 21-11, 21-19 in just 37 minutes.

"It is a matter of huge joy for the entire country to see Srikanth triumph in Indonesia. I called him right after the match to congratulate him on this stellar win. He has made the whole country proud once again and I am quite confident he will keep doing so in future as well," Sarma said.

This victory not only gave Srikanth's his second Superseries Premier title but also saw him achieve a rare feat of becoming the first Indian man to ever win the prestigious Indonesia Open.

Apart from Srikanth's feat, it was overall a great outing from the Indian men's contingent with H.S. Prannoy also rising to the occasion.

"We are really delighted at Kidambi's achievement and to celebrate that Dr. Sarma on behalf of BAI has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for his stupendous performance in Jakarta," official spokesperson and General Secretary of BAI Anup Narang said.

--IANS

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