Experienced Indian badminton player Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the men’s singles semifinals of the Malaysia Masters tournament following a tough win against the higher-ranked Toma Junior Popov from France on Friday.
Srikanth, who is presently ranked 65th but has held the title of world number one and earned silver medals at both the World Championships and the Asian Games, faced off in a tough match against world number 18 Popov. He eventually won with scores of 24-22, 17-21, 22-20 in a contest that lasted one hour and 14 minutes.
Srikanth faces Japan’s Yushi Tanaka in Semis
Srikanth will compete against Yushi Tanaka from Japan in the semifinals, signifying his initial entry into the final four in more than a year.
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Tanaka overcame France’s Christo Popov, the younger sibling of Toma Junior, with results of 21-18, 16-21, 21-6 in another men’s singles quarterfinal on Saturday.
The other men’s singles semifinal will showcase Japan’s fourth seed Kodai Naraoka facing off against China’s second seed Li Shi Feng.
Srikanth only Indian left in the tournament
Srikanth is now the only Indian left in the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament after the mixed doubles duo of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto were eliminated in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Kapila and Crasto put up a fight against the top-seeded Chinese pair Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin in the opening game but ultimately lost their rhythm, finishing with scores of 22-24, 13-21 in a match lasting 35 minutes.
