Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth produced a gutsy performance on Friday to book his place in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters 2025 badminton tournament in Bukit Jalil. In a nail-biting men's singles quarter-final clash, Srikanth edged past France's world No. 18 Toma Junior Popov 24-22, 17-21, 22-20 in a marathon encounter that lasted one hour and 14 minutes. Currently ranked 65th in the world, Srikanth had to dig deep in the deciding game after trailing at the mid-game break. With his trademark resilience, the Indian shuttler clawed his way back to win his fourth match in six meetings against Popov and secure his first semi-final appearance of the season.