Kidambi Srikanth was at his grittiest best as he shocked World No 1 Son Wan Ho for a place in the Final but giant-killer HS Prannoy's battle ended in agony at the $1,000,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier, here on Saturday.
Srikanth fought like a man possessed to outclass Son Wan Ho 21-15, 18-21, 24-22 in an energy-sapping men's singles match that lasted an hour and 12 minutes here.
After his stunning wins over Olympic silver-medallist lee Chong Wei and Rio gold-medallist Chen long, expectations were high from Prannoy but the Indian suffered a heart-breaking 21 -17, 26-28, 18-21 defeat to Japanese Kazumasa Sakai in a 77-minute men's singles match.
Srikanth had a 2-4 head-to-head record against Son, having lost to the Korean four times in the last four meetings but all that didn't matter today as he survived a battle of attrition at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC).
World No 22 Srikanth will next face World No 47 Sakai in the Final on Sunday.
This is the fourth Super Series final for Srikanth, who had reached the summit clash in Singapore in April and won the 2014 China Open and the 2015 India Open.
Precision was the key as Srikanth and Son battled on, playing some excruciating rallies during the three-game thriller.
Srikanth produced a compact net game and used his smashes to good effect against Son, who looked equally menacing with his never-say-die-attitude.
The duo were locked 3-3 initially but Srikanth slowly moved away to make it 11-6 with a backhand tap at the net which Son couldn't negotiate.
Srikanth, however, succumbed to a series of unforced errors to allow Son claw back to 10-12. But a couple of smashes helped the Indian to extend his lead to 18-13.
After that, Srikanth's smash touched the net chord and went over as he moved to 19-13. Son netted one to give the Indian a game point and he sealed it after conceding a point.
In the second game, Srikanth opened up a 4-2 lead before moving to 8-5 but Son managed to come back at 9-9 but he grabbed a slender 11-10 lead at interval.
In the end, Son roared back into contest when Srikanth hit the net.
The decider turned out to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller as the duo battled tooth and nail right from the start, moving from 6-6 to 10-10. Son moved to a 13-10 lead after the interval but Srikanth slowly levelled par at 14-14 with a clever shot on Son's forehand. The duo moved neck-and-neck till 19-19.
Son then earned the match point when Srikanth's back hand return got buried at the net. But the Korean failed to make it count and ended up hitting long.
Srikanth's return also went haywire but Son too hit long as it became 22-21 in favour of the Indian. However, his smash found the net next as the score read 22-22.
Srikanth then produced a precise crosscourt smash and then returned an onrushing shot from Son to raise his arms in celebration.
Prannoy, on the other hand, bowed out after Sakai registered his second win over the Indian, following up after the victory at the 2013 edition.
In the first game, Prannoy and Sakai were locked 2-2 early on but the Indian soon moved ahead to first make it 4-2 before entering the break with a healthy 11-6 lead.
He moved to a 19-15 lead and soon grabbed the game point.
The second game was a roller-coaster ride as Sakai opened up a 5-1 lead and moved to 11-5 at the interval when Prannoy's return went to the nets.
The duo engaged in fast-paced rallies and Prannoy managed to claw back at 18-18. The Indian grabbed the match point at 20-19 due to a lucky net chord point. However, he failed to convert it as lead exchanged hands too quickly.
In the end, Prannoy failed to negotiate another return from Sakai as the lead finally swung back to the Japanese at 27-26 and he sealed it this time when Prannoy's miscued smash went to the net.
In the third game, Sakai moved to a 6-4 lead early on and soon had a four-point advantage. The Japanese headed into the break with a slender 11-9 lead.
After the change of sides, Sakai extended his lead to 15 -11.
Errors continued from Prannoy but he managed to narrow the margin to 17-18. But eventually, it was the Japanese who had the last laugh.
Back to back finals
New Delhi: Close on the heels of Singapore Open Final, K Srikanth made his way to yet another summit clash at Indonesia Super Series Premier and the Indian ace says he is shocked to achieve the feat and it will take some time to sink in. Srikanth set up a clash with Kazumasa Sakai of Japan, who defeated another Indian shuttler HS Prannoy.
"Coming into the tournament, I never thought really that I will reach the finals again,” said Srikanth.
“I am shocked to be playing back to back finals. It will take a while to digest it and then prepare for tomorrow,” he added.
Talking about today's match, Srikanth said: "It was a tough match and I was prepared for a long match. Whenever I play him, it is always a long match and he has been playing well of late. He is the world No 1 now and you have to give him respect.
"I won a lot of points and also lost points when my smashes went out but that's the way I play, it is my main scoring option. It was very close match. I was lucky there in the last point. It was a nice game. I am proud.
"I was in comfortable position in the second game also but conditions changed and I lost track. I made simple mistakes and it changed the complexion of the second game but I am very happy to make a comeback in the third game," he explained.
Asked about Sunday's opponent, Srikanth said: "He has been playing very well, he has beaten some of the top players and had a really good run from the qualifiers. I really didn't think about the finals but now that I have won, I will go back and think about it.
"I think I really had a bad injury after the Olympics. I pushed really hard when I came back and I shouldn't have done that. It was tough. losing at India Open was a big thing, I pulled out of Malaysia and that one week training helped me to play well at Singapore.
"I want to thank my coaches. Mulyo (Handoyo) has been doing a great job. They changed the whole schedule and it is really helping us."