NEW DELHI: India’s Kidambi Srikanth ended a protracted wait on Saturday when he made his first last in three-and-a-half years by reaching the title conflict of the $475,000 Malaysia Masters in Bukit Jalil, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.
Kidambi Srikanth. (HT)
The previous world No.1, whose rating has dropped to No.65, overcame Japan’s Yushi Tanaka, the world No.23, 21-18, 24-22 in 49 minutes within the semi-finals.
The final time the 32-year-old made the ultimate was on the BWF World Championships in December 2021 in Huelva, Spain, shedding the summit conflict to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew.
After struggling on the tour and compelled off due to harm breaks, the Ravulapalem-born has lastly managed to regain his footing as he made the ultimate of the Tremendous 500 event following wins over a lot higher-ranked opponents.
“Pretty happy (with the win). It’s been a while (since playing in a final). I don’t know (how long it has been). I have lost track of it,” Srikanth stated within the blended zone after his match.
The Pullela Gopichand protege has needed to work tougher than different gamers to achieve the semis, having additionally come by means of two qualifying matches. In the principle draw, Srikanth first overcame previous rival and fifth seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in three powerful video games within the opener which gave him the boldness of progressing within the occasion.
After overcoming Eire’s Nhat Nguyen in straight video games, Srikanth defeated one other high 20 participant in Toma Junior Popov of France earlier than outlasting Tanaka within the semis.
“Physically I’ve been feeling well. There’s also the fact that I haven’t played too many minutes last year. I had been playing qualifiers. So maybe I kind of lost that touch of playing matches. Somehow everything has worked out this time,” Srikanth, who guided India to the 2022 Thomas Cup victory, stated. “I’ve been working hard the last month for these wins.”
Srikanth will face his largest check on Sunday afternoon when he takes on second seed Li Shifeng of China for his first title in eight years. The final title got here on the 2017 French Open.
“I haven’t really planned anything. It’s just about being physically fit, being injury free, and then playing how many ever tournaments possible,” stated Srikanth.
“I don’t really have a target of playing the next 100 tournaments this year… So, obviously if I play, I will play to win. I really want to give myself enough time to recover, train, and then play this time.”