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India’s Srikanth Kidambi held his nerves against Yushi Tanaka in the Malaysia Masters 2025 semi-final and clinched the victory with the success in the first two games. Srikanth entered the contest after claiming five consecutive triumphs. In his quarter-final game against France’s Toma Junior Popov, he emerged victorious by a margin of 24-22, 17-21, 22-20. Talking about Tanaka, he entered the game after getting the better of Christo Popov, the younger brother of Toma Junior. Before taking on Kidambi, the Japanese shuttler had beaten Kidambi’s compatriot HS Prannoy.
In the contest, both fought against each other valiantly but it was Srikanth, who stood tall and emerged triumphant with a 21-18, 24-22 figures. The couple of games witnessed the fierce competition between both players. Tanaka displayed fighting spirit in the second game and strove to make the task difficult for the 32-year-old Indian. Eventually, Tanaka hit the crosscourt wide and gained the game point.
Srikanth will make his first appearance in an individual tournament since 2021
Srikanth will be playing his first individual final on Sunday, May 25 after four years. Back in 2021, he reached the final of the 2021 BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain and became the first Indian shuttler to do so. Srikanth is now the only Indian player in contention for a title at the Super 500 event.
Earlier, India's mixed doubles duo of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila got eliminated from the tournament after losing the quarter-final against top seeds, Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin of China. It was a 35-minute game in which the pair of the Indian players got defeated by 22-24, 13-21.
