Kidambi Srikanth continues inspired run in Malaysia Masters, reaches semifinal
Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the semi-final of the Malaysia Masters, a Super 500 tournament, on Friday, May 23. Srikanth ended more than a year's wait for a semi-final berth in a tournament on the tour, beating Toma Junior Popov of France in a marathon battle in the quarterfinal.Srikanth, ranked 65, needed more than an hour to beat World No. 18 Popov 24-22, 17-21, 22-20. Srikanth's improved fitness has been on show in Malaysia as the former Asian Games silver medallist has battled in intense three-game battles in the tournament.advertisement"It's been a while since I've won this many matches in a tournament and I hope I can continue to do so. I've always been trying to better myself and this win just proves that whatever I'm doing is working," Srikanth said, reflecting on his win on Friday.
Srikanth will take on Yushi Tanaka of Japan in semi-final on Saturday. The Japanese beat France's Christo Popov, brother of Toma Junior, 21-18 16-21 21-6 in another men's singles quarterfinal duel on Saturday.The other men's singles semifinal will be played between fourth seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan and second seed Li Shi Feng of China.Srikanth is now the lone surviving Indian in the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament after the exit of the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto in the quarterfinals on Friday. Kapila and Crasto gave top seed Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin of China a tough fight in the first game but lost steam in the next to bow out 22-24 13-21 in a 35-minute affair.advertisement(With inputs from PTI).
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