Kuala Lumpur, May 23 (IANS) Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth produced a gutsy performance on Friday to book his place in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters 2025 badminton tournament in Bukit Jalil.

In a nail-biting men’s singles quarter-final clash, Srikanth edged past France’s world No. 18 Toma Junior Popov 24-22, 17-21, 22-20 in a marathon encounter that lasted one hour and 14 minutes.

Currently ranked 65th in the world, Srikanth had to dig deep in the deciding game after trailing at the mid-game break. With his trademark resilience, the Indian shuttler clawed his way back to win his fourth match in six meetings against Popov and secure his first semi-final appearance of the season.

This marks Srikanth’s best result on the BWF World Tour since his semi-final run at the Swiss Open Super 300 in March 2024. The Indian started the match strongly, racing to a 7-4 lead in the opening game. However, Popov recovered quickly and even held a game point at 21-20. Srikanth showed his composure to turn the tables and clinch the game 24-22.

The second game saw the momentum shift as Popov went into the break with a four-point cushion. Srikanth managed to level the score at 15-all but couldn’t maintain the tempo, eventually conceding the game 17-21.

In the decider, Srikanth once again found himself four points behind at the mid-game interval. But showing tremendous grit and court awareness, he mounted an inspired comeback to outlast Popov in a tense finish and move into the last four.

Srikanth had earlier defeated Ireland’s world No. 33 Nhat Nguyen in the pre-quarterfinals. He will now face Japan’s world No. 22 Yushi Tanaka in the semi-final on Saturday. Tanaka had earlier knocked out India’s HS Prannoy in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, India’s mixed doubles hopes ended in the quarter-finals. Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila went down fighting 22-24, 13-21 to China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin, bronze medallists at the 2023 World Championships.

With their exit, Srikanth remains the only Indian player left in contention at the BWF Super 500 tournament.

–IANS

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