Badminton: Kiran George clinches Indonesian Masters title

The young Indian shuttler, Kiran George won the Indonesia Masters Super 100 men's singles title on Sunday, defeating Japan’s Koo Takahashi in two straight games, here.

Ranked No. 50, the Indian shuttler defeated Takahashi ranked 82, with a scoreline of  21-19, 22-20. Earlier, Kiran also won the Odisha Open in 2022 for his maiden Super 100 title.

The 23-year-old Indian shuttler has proven to have excellent technique and outstanding fitness throughout the competition. In the semifinals, Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia was upset in a three-setter game by Kiran, who has established himself as a big stage performer on the BWF World Tour.

In the final match of the tournament, both the players showed an exorbitant display of rallies and played at their nerve. In the first game, Kiran, who is quick on the feet, mostly played dribble on the net and a criss-crossing game to take the lead.

In the second game, Takahashi took the initial lead of 2-0, but the Indian was quick to turn the table as he played a crosscourt smash and took the lead of 4-2 before taking the lead to 11-9 at the interval. However, the Japanese held his nerve firmly and managed to level the game at 20-20.

Kiran, yet again with two crosscourt smashes, wrapped up the game early and won the Super 100 Major Title.

Earlier this year, Kiran, who trains at Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru, defeated Chinese star Shi Yuqi and Weng Hong Yang at the Thailand Open.