Kidambi Srikanth becomes richest shuttler this year, ahead of even Lee Chong Wei, Tai Tzu Ying

High-flying Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth is in the form of his life, reaching the final in the last three Superseries tournaments and winning two – the Indonesia Open and the Australia Open. With that, the Guntur lad smashed his way into the top 10 the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings last month. [caption id=“attachment_3707587” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  India’s Srikanth Kidambi reacts after defeating South Korea’s Son Wan-ho during their men’s singles semi final match at Indonesia Open. AP[/caption] The 24-year-old shuttler’s run of three straight finals has rocketed him to the top of the overall prize money standings, surpassing Tai Tzu Ying, the World No 1 women’s singles shuttler. Not only that, the Guntur lad is now the top earner globally for this calendar year, across categories. According to a report on the BWF website, Srikanth had won $16,597.50 on court this year prior to the Singapore Open, where he reached the final. However, that has jumped to $147,847.50 thanks to his runner-up finish there combined with triumphs at the prestigious BCA Indonesia Open and Australian Open. What’s astonishing is that Srikanth’s earnings are more than double of those of Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, who trails at the second place with $71,300, while China’s Lin Dan is third with $69,795. Meanwhile, 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu – with her earnings of $47,075 –  remains the only other Indian in the top 10 across categories, and is placed seventh on the list of women’s singles players. There is no hiding that Srikanth’s journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride as he initially tried hard to take the court at the beginning of 2012. He made the headlines three years later, after breaking into the top five of the BWF rankings. However, due to his inconsistent form, the figures kept fluctuating. An ankle injury after his quarter-final exit at Rio 2016 saw him miss the end of last season. Earlier this year in March, Srikanth was ranked 31 in the men’s singles category but a hat-trick of finals and a 10-match unbeaten streak has allowed the attack-minded shuttler to clinch the No 1 spot in the Destination Dubai Rankings in the men’s category.