Kidambi Srikanth Enters First Final In Six Years At Malaysia Masters

Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth stormed into his first men's singles final of a BWF event in six years with a straight-game win over Japan's Yushi Tanaka at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. The 32-year-old, a 2021 World Championships silver medallist, dished out a superlative game, showing glimpses of his vintage self with sharp net play and attacking flair to outwit world number 23 Tanaka 21-18 24-22 in a thrilling contest. "I'm pretty happy. It's been a while," Srikanth said after the win.

He will face second seeded Chinese Li Shi Feng in the summit clash on Sunday.

This is Srikanth's first final appearance on the BWF World Tour since finishing runner-up at the 2019 India Open.

A former world number one, Srikanth - currently ranked 65 - has endured a rough patch over the past few seasons due to form and fitness issues.

"Physically I've been feeling well, but also the fact that I haven't played too many matches last year, playing qualifying, so may be kind of lost that touch of playing matches. And yeah, somehow everything worked out this time.

"I've been working hard last month. It's just these wins, after a very long time, that is what has been my emotions," he added.

A naturally gifted player, Srikanth became the first Indian to win four BWF titles in 2017 and then led the country to its first-ever Commonwealth Games gold in the team event.

But his struggles began soon after. Though he seemed in good touch in 2019, Srikanth missed the Tokyo Olympics due to a combination of injuries and the cancellation of qualifiers owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He continued to suffer minor injuries, particularly ankle-related ones, which affected his consistency. He recovered in