Kuala Lumpur, May 23 (IANS) Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth produced a gutsy performance on Friday to book his place in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters 2025 badminton tournament in Bukit Jalil.
In a nail-biting men’s singles quarter-final clash, Srikanth edged past France’s world No. 18 Toma Junior Popov 24-22, 17-21, 22-20 in a marathon encounter that lasted one hour and 14 minutes.
Currently ranked 65th in the world, Srikanth had to dig deep in the deciding game after trailing at the mid-game break. With his trademark resilience, the Indian shuttler clawed his way back to win his fourth match in six meetings against Popov and secure his first semi-final appearance of the season.
This marks Srikanth’s best result on the BWF World Tour since his semi-final run at the Swiss Open Super 300 in March 2024. The Indian started the match strongly, racing to a 7-4 lead in the opening game. However, Popov recovered quickly and even held a game point at 21-20. Srikanth showed his composure to turn the tables and clinch the game 24-22.
The second game saw the momentum shift as Popov went into the break with a four-point cushion. Srikanth managed to level the score at 15-all but couldn’t maintain the tempo, eventually conceding the game 17-21.
In the decider, Srikanth once again found himself four points behind at the mid-game interval. But showing tremendous grit and court awareness, he mounted an inspired comeback to outlast Popov in a tense finish and move into the last four.
Srikanth had earlier defeated Ireland’s world No. 33 Nhat Nguyen in the pre-quarterfinals. He will now face Japan’s world No. 22 Yushi Tanaka in the semi-final on Saturday. Tanaka had earlier knocked out India’s HS Prannoy in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, India’s mixed doubles hopes ended in the quarter-finals. Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila went down fighting 22-24, 13-21 to China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin, bronze medallists at the 2023 World Championships.
With their exit, Srikanth remains the only Indian player left in contention at the BWF Super 500 tournament.
–IANS
hs/ab
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
