NEW DELHI: Kidambi Srikanth’s brilliant run at the $475,000 Malaysia Masters badminton tournament came to an end on Sunday after he lost in the final to second seed Li Shi Feng of China.
It had been a long week for India’s world No.65, who had to come through the qualifiers to reach the main draw before reaching his first final in three-and-a-half years. But facing the reigning Asian Games champion, Srikanth looked completely drained, losing 11-21, 9-21 in 36 minutes at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.
It was Srikanth’s fourth consecutive loss to the former All England champion in their five meetings. The only time the former world No.1 beat Li was at the 2021 World Championships, which was also the last final on the tour before Sunday. Srikanth had in that tournament become only the third Indian, after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, to reach the final of the Worlds.
“The chair umpire was also asking, ‘where have you been?’ I didn’t know people really missed me,” Srikanth joked. “But yeah, very happy to be back again. I fell during the Singapore Open last year and had to take a little time off. It got a little extended, more than I thought,” he said after the final.
“I also got married in November, so that was another break. I started from January. It’s always tough when you’re coming back from an injury and also from a break. And then when you haven’t really played too many matches it’s not easy to come directly and play the tournament. The positive of everything is that I’m feeling better physically. I just want to continue from here,” the 32-year-old said.
The seasoned player’s excellent run will be welcomed as Indian badminton searches for revival at elite level after finishing without a medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. At his peak, Srikanth reached the finals of five Super Series events in 2017, winning four. However, Pullela Gopichand’s protege is showing strong signs of a resurgence.
Srikanth moved better, attacked at the net and unleashed his killer smash of old to win many points, defeating much higher ranked opponents, including world’s top 10 players in Kuala Lumpur.
“It’s been a pretty good week. I’m happy with how it went. It was not exactly the way I wanted it to be today, but Li played really well. I’m just very happy to be back playing, I just want to keep myself happy.
“There was a point in my career where I was used to standing there (on the podium). It’s been a while, so to be back again on the podium feels really special.”
