Kidambi Srikanth clinched his fourth Super Series title with a stunning straight-game win over reigning Olympic and world champion Chen Long in the Australian Open final on 25 June.
The world number 11 won 22-20 21-16 in a 45-minute clash against the world number 6 Long, who is also the current All England champion.
The triumph is his second successive after clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier title last week.
Srikanth, who reached the summit clash in Singapore and Indonesia before this tournament, is only the fifth player in the world to play three successive Super Series finals.
A semi-finalist in the last edition of the tournament, Srikanth grabbed an early lead and capitalised on his opponent's rather sluggish game to clinch a 10-6 lead.
But Long gathered himself just in time, starting with a deftly-placed smash, to make it 11-11. He shifted gears to add pace to the proceedings and his baseline strokes stood out for both ferocity and accuracy.
But Srikanth was no pushover and played the catch-up game quite well, coming up with a couple of brilliant smashes of his own. And it was this tenacity that got him a 17-15 lead even though Long continued to breathe down his neck.
Srikanth did not let the momentum slip, helped by Long's erratic game, and the underdog earned his first game point at 20 -19.
Long managed to save that with a rasping smash but Srikanth's perseverance fetched him another at 21-20 when his Chinese opponent was foxed by a low backhand return. This time around, Srikanth made no mistake and sealed the first game in 23 minutes.
The second game began with an engaging baseline rally, which ended with Srikanth smashing his way to earn the first point.
The see-saw battle continued for a while before Srikanth broke away to lead 6-3, dominating the rallies with his accurately, rather awkwardly, placed shots, which Long found difficult to return.
Long managed to keep the gap in check with flashes of brilliance that have earned him a place among the world’s best.
However, Srikanth seemed determined to end his winless streak against his rival and led 11-9 at the lemon break of the second game.
Srikanth did not let the lead slip from that point, raising his game by quite a few notches against an increasingly faltering Long. It took the Indian player under a minute to wrap up a rather comfortable victory.
The triumph was a morale-boosting jinx-breaker for Srikanth, who had lost all his previous five encounters to Long.
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