Former World No. 1 Kidambi Sikanth attacked Malaysia Masters semifinals, Super 500 tournaments, Friday 23rd May. Sricant ended more than a year’s waiting for the semifinals in a tournament tournament on a tournament on a tournament.
Sricant, 65, needed more than an hour to beat World No. 18 Popov 24-22, 17-21, 22-20. The improved fitness Sricant was exhibited in Malaysia because the former Asian gaming silver medalist fought in the intense three games in the tournament.
“It’s been some time since I won so many matches in the tournament and I hope I can continue.
Sricant will accept Japan Yushi Tanaka in the semifinals on Saturday. Japanese Christo Popov, brother of Tom Junior, defeated French Christo Popov, 21-18 16-21 21-6 on Saturday in another quarterfinal battle of singles.
The semifinals of other men will be played between the fourth seed of Kodai Naraoka from Japan and the second seed Li Shi Feng from China.
SRIKANTH is now a lone surviving Indian in BWF World Tour Super 500 after the departure of the mixed pair Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto on Friday in the quarterfinals. Chapel and Crasto gave Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin from China the tough fight in the first game, but lost steam at a secondary point of 22-24 13-21 in a 35-minute affair.
(With PTI inputs).
Published:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
23 May 2025
