Chinese Media Plays Down Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal Whitewash
China Daily completely ignored the event, while Global Times published a picture of China's superstar badminton player Lin Dan trying to reach a Kidambi Srikanth volley in the final. Saina Nehwal and Srikanth won both the women's and men's singles titles respectively in the China Open Super Series event.
© PTI
Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal may have hit global headlines with their big wins against China's superstars of badminton but sadly they have not made it into the state-run Chinese media, which played down their herculean achievement.
Top English dailies like China Daily and Global Times which have big sports pages found little or no space for the Indian duo's whitewash of Chinese stars in the $7 lakh China Open, while it found a little mention in the sports programme of the English CCTV. (Also read: Saina says will cherish China Open win for the rest of her life)
China Daily completely ignored the event, while Global Times published a picture of China's superstar badminton player trying to reach a Srikanth volley. (Also read: Saina, Srikanth to lead Indian challenge in Hong Kong)
The event was telecast live on the CCTV sports channels with locals cheering their Chinese stars.
But the media coverage has gone cold once China suffered a white wash.
State run Xinhua news agency ran a brief story after Sunday's match saying "Lin Dan stunned by Indian young shuttler Srikanth in China Open final".
"I tried hard in this event. I believed I played well this time because I'm just recovering from the injury," Lin said. (Also read: Never thought I could beat Lin Dan, says Srikanth)
"The problem was I did not move fast enough today," he said.
"I did not have myself trained systematically after the Asian Games. But I'm confident I'll be better in the coming 3-4 years," said Lin.
Srikanth told Xinhua that it was his first time to play in the final in a Super Series event.
"It seems my dream has come true. I'm so excited to play 100 percent and win my first title. I'd like to take it as a gift for my coach, for it is his birthday today," he said.
The agency briefly noted Saina's victory saying she beat Akane Yamaguchi from Japan 21-12, 22-20.