Kidambi Srikanth lost to his Chinese rival Li Shi Feng in the Malaysia Masters 2025 final on Sunday (May 25). After making it to his first men’s singles final in a BWF event in six years, Srikanth concluded his tournament by finishing as the runner-up.
Shi Feng, ranked 4th in the world, clinched his first Malaysia Masters title by defeating Indian veteran 21-11 21-9.
Match lasted only 33 minutes
The game started with Kidambi Srikanth securing the toss. He began the match by selecting a court and serving to Shi Feng. He immediately scored the first point. Nevertheless, Shi Feng swiftly regained his composure and rapidly gained an advantage in the initial match. The Indian player tried to increase his score, but his efforts were unsuccessful as the match concluded with a score of 11-21.
ALSO READ: Srikanth rolls back the years as he enters final of Malaysia Masters Badminton
Shi Feng dominated the second game right from the very first point. Srikanth, world no. 65, managed to reach just 9 points and the match concluded in just 33 minutes.
Srikanth’s Road to the Final
Srikanth reached the final after winning in straight games against his Japanese rival Yushi Tanaka. On Saturday, he defeated Tanaka 21-18 24-22 in the semifinal match. By achieving this, Srikanth reached his first final on the World Tour since the India Open in 2019 and his first individual event final since the World Championships final in 2021.
Srikanth secured a victory over Toma Junior Popov from France with final scores of 24-22, 17-21, 22-20 in the quarterfinal match.
The 32-year-old achieved six consecutive victories starting from the qualification rounds to reach the final match of the BWF World Tour.
