Malaysia Masters: Srikanth finishes as runner-up with loss against Li Shi Feng

Kuala Lumpur, May 25 (IANS) Kidambi Srikanth suffered a loss in the final of the Malaysia Open 2025, losing 11-21, 9-21 to China’s Li Shi Feng in just 36 minutes on Sunday.

Despite a strong run through the tournament, Srikanth was unable to mount any real challenge in the title clash. The 32-year-old Indian had reached his first BWF final in nearly six years, having last finished runner-up at the India Open in 2019.

“It has been a pretty good week. It’s my third tournament. I played decently well in the first two as well, but couldn’t really win those matches. But pretty happy with the way it went so far," Srikanth said after the match.

“Not exactly the way I wanted to be today, but still, I think he (Feng) played well. I’m just very happy to be back playing again. I just want to keep myself happy. There was a point in my career where I was pretty used to being standing there, and then it’s been a while," Srikanth added.

In the semi-final, he overcame Japan’s World No. 23 Yushi Tanaka in straight games, 21-18, 24-22, on Saturday.

Srikanth, once a dominant force in men’s singles, made history in 2017 by becoming the first Indian to win four BWF titles in a calendar year -clinching the Indonesia Open, Australian Open, Denmark Open, and French Open. The following year, he played a pivotal role in India’s gold medal triumph in the team event at the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast.

In this year’s Malaysia Masters, Srikanth had to come through the qualifying rounds before defeating Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the Round of 16. He then edged past France’s Toma Junior Popov in a tightly contested quarter-final, 24-22, 17-21, 22-20, and cruised past Tanaka in the semis.

However, the final proved a step too far as Li Shi Feng, who claimed his first BWF title of 2025 following last year’s Japan Masters win, proved too strong.

Once ranked among the world’s best, Srikanth has been struggling in recent years. He missed out on the Tokyo Olympics due to injury and the cancellation of qualifiers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Persistent ankle injuries have since hampered his consistency, and he had slipped to World No. 65 earlier this month.

Srikanth was also part of India’s historic Thomas Cup victory in 2022 in Bangkok, where he helped secure the team gold.

--IANS

ab/