Kuala Lumpur: Kidambi Srikanth suffered a loss in the final of the Malaysia Open 2025, losing 11-21, 9-21 to China’s Li Shi Feng in just 36 minutes on Sunday.
Despite a strong run through the tournament, Srikanth was unable to mount any real challenge in the title clash. The 32-year-old Indian had reached his first BWF final in nearly six years, having last finished runner-up at the India Open in 2019.
“It has been a pretty good week. It’s my third tournament. I played decently well in the first two as well, but couldn’t really win those matches. But pretty happy with the way it went so far,” Srikanth said after the match.
“Not exactly the way I wanted to be today, but still, I think he (Feng) played well. I’m just very happy to be back playing again. I just want to keep myself happy. There was a point in my career where I was pretty used to being standing there, and then it’s been a while,” Srikanth added.
In the semi-final, he overcame Japan’s World No. 23 Yushi Tanaka in straight games, 21-18, 24-22, on Saturday.
Srikanth, once a dominant force in men’s singles, made history in 2017 by becoming the first Indian to win four BWF titles in a calendar year -clinching the Indonesia Open, Australian Open, Denmark Open, and French Open. The following year, he played a pivotal role in India’s gold medal triumph in the team event at the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast. IANS
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