Shuttler Srikanth clinches Australian Open title (Lead)

Sydney June 25 (IANS) Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth stayed committed in his dominating run to clinch the Australian Open Super Series men s singles final here on Sunday.

The Indian took less than 30 minutes to outclass Olympic champion Cheng Long of China in straight games 22-20 21-16.

This was the third straight Super Series final win for Srikanth who had only last week secured the Indonesian Open.

In the first game the 24-year-old Srikanth played a perfect net game which troubled Long.

Tailing 17-19 in the last Srikanth displayed some quality shots and smashes to make it 21-19. But the Chinese player made it 20-20 (deuce). A focused Srikanth then changed his strategy and started playing an attacking game to edge past the World No.6.

The second game saw a much improved performance from the Indian. In a totally contrasting game Srikanth played long rallies. The Chinese shuttler struggled and surrendered the game.

--IANS
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