New Delhi: India’s Kidambi Srikanth delivered a commanding performance on Friday night to storm into the men’s singles semifinals of the Canada Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Calgary. The former World Championships silver medallist stunned top seed and world number six Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei with a straight-game victory, winning 21-18, 21-9 in just 43 minutes.
Currently ranked 49th in the world, the 32-year-old Srikanth continued his resurgence in form after reaching the Malaysia Masters final earlier this year. Against Chou, he came in with a 4-6 head-to-head record but had beaten him in their last two encounters—and extended that winning streak with a clinical display. Srikanth began the match with a blistering 5-0 lead and maintained control, even as Chou briefly took a 17-16 advantage in the first game. Srikanth quickly regained momentum, winning five of the next six points to take the opener. The second game saw the Indian completely dominate, pulling away from 4-4 to a commanding 11-6 lead at the interval, and eventually cruising to a 21-9 finish.
With this victory, Srikanth booked a semifinal spot where he will face Japan’s third seed Kenta Nishimoto. Though Srikanth holds a 6-4 lead in their head-to-head record, he will be seeking revenge after losing to Nishimoto in their last meeting at the 2023 World Championships.
Earlier in the tournament, India’s S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian put up a spirited fight in his quarterfinal clash against Nishimoto, but ultimately went down 15-21, 21-5, 17-21 after a grueling 79-minute battle. In women’s singles, Shriyanshi Valishetty’s impressive run came to an end with a loss to Denmark’s Amalie Schulz.
Srikanth, who hails from Guntur and rose to prominence with four titles in a breakthrough 2017 season, now remains India’s sole contender in the $240,000 tournament. With his form peaking at the right time, all eyes will be on his semifinal clash as he aims for another final appearance on the BWF World Tour.
