New Delhi: Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth secured a thrilling victory over France’s Toma Junior Popov to advance to the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters 2025 badminton tournament, marking his first top-four finish of the year.
Currently ranked 65th in the world, Srikanth battled hard in a tense three-game match, eventually overcoming the 18th-ranked French shuttler with a gritty 24-22, 17-21, 22-20 win. The quarterfinal clash lasted one hour and 14 minutes and was held on Friday.
Srikanth started strong, taking an early 7-4 lead in the opening game. Though Popov fought back and even held a game point at 21-20, Srikanth held his nerve to snatch the first game.
In the second game, Srikanth trailed by four points at the interval and briefly leveled the score at 15-15, but lost momentum as Popov forced a decider. The third game followed a similar pattern, with Srikanth again trailing at the break, yet he rallied with a determined comeback to close out the contest. The win was Srikanth’s fourth in six meetings against Popov.
This semi-final appearance is Srikanth’s first since the Swiss Open Super 300 in March 2024, giving Indian fans hope for a resurgence from the experienced shuttler. He had earlier defeated Ireland’s world No. 33 Nhat Nguyen in the round of 16.
Srikanth will now face Japan’s Yushi Tanaka (world No. 22) in the semi-finals on Saturday. Tanaka had previously defeated India’s HS Prannoy in the round of 16.
Mixed Doubles Exit
Meanwhile, India’s mixed doubles campaign came to an end as the pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila lost in their quarter-final match. The duo went down 22-24, 13-21 to China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin, the 2023 World Championship bronze medallists.
With the exit of the mixed doubles pair, Kidambi Srikanth remains the sole Indian representative in the ongoing BWF Super 500 tournament in Malaysia.
