Srikanth - BWC - sportstiger

Picture Credit: Twitter

Kidambi Srikanth might have lost the summit clash at the BWF World Championships. Yet it was a thrilling game and a contest where India produce a fight of the highest quality. Despite his defeat to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew in the finale at Huelva, Spain-15-21, 20-22, Srikanth achieved a historic feat by becoming the first Indian man to win a silver medal at the World Championships.

Although a gold would have been icing on the cake, Srikanth made quite a few unforced errors which led to his undoing in a match that lasted 43 minutes and saw the Indian shuttler take lead in both games- 9-3 in the first game and 9-3 in the second before also leading 18-16 in the second game. However, the unseeded Singaporean proved to be the better player on the court on Sunday and deservedly bagged the historic gold medal.

Later at the medal's ceremony, certainly Singapore's flag fluttered high but it was no less than a proud moment for India as Srikanth was handed the silver medal.

The video of Srikanth can be seen here:

Notably, Srikanth had his moments in the match and even saved two match points in the deciding game but in the end had to settle for a silver medal in the marquee event. It was an even more historic and career-changing moment for Loh who has put Singapore firmly on the world badminton map with the country's first medal at the world championship.

Lakshya Sen, who faced a defeat to Srikanth on Saturday, was awarded the bronze as he joined legendary Prakash Padukone (bronze in 1983) and B Sai Praneeth (bronze in 2019) who are the only other medalists in the men's singles category in the event.

In the women's category, India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu has two silver medals other than two bronze as well as the gold which she bagged in 2019. Saina Nehwal also has a silver and a bronze to her name in the marquee event. In addition, the women's doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had also won the bronze in 2011.