After a series of upsets in Jakarta, it will be two unseeded shuttlers in Kidambi Srikanth of India and Kazumasa Sakai of Japan, battling for 2017 Indonesia Open title on Sunday.
Srikanth, the world number 22, made his way into his second consecutive Superseries final after beating world number one Son Wan Ho 21-15, 14-21, 24-22 in a hard-fought semi-final encounter on Saturday.
On the other hand, Sakai entered his maiden Superseries final after surviving a marathon semi-final clash against Lee Chong Wei-slayer HS Prannoy 17-21, 28-26, 21-18 in an hour and 17 minutes.
In what will be their first meeting, Srikanth will start as favourites to win his third Superseries title later today. The former China Open champion has been in fine form, reaching the final of Singapore Superseries and following it up with a good show in Jakarta.
After losing to compatriot Sai Praneeth in an all-India final in Singapore, Srikanth has given himself a chance to claim glory in the ongoing tournament. Having beaten the likes of Vincent Ki Wong, Jan O Jorgensen and Tzu Wei Wang enroute to the final, the Indian shuttler will be determined to cross the final hurdle without any slip-ups this time.
On the other hand, not having been at big stages earlier might hurt Sakai's chances in today's big final. However, the 27-year-old's performances in the ongoing tournament should give him the necessary confidence to do away with nerves. With Srikanth showing he is ready for long battles, the pressure will be on the Japanese shuttler to deliver.
