In the World Badminton Championships, Kidambi Srikanth grabs silver

Monday, December 20, 2021

In the World Badminton Championships, Kidambi Srikanth, secured a historic silver medal after suffering a straight-game defeat to Loh Kean Yew of Singapore. On Sunday, this was the best ever performance by an Indian in the men’s singles tournament.

Srikanth, a former world no. 1, in 43 minutes, lost 15-21 20-22 to Malaysia-born opponent Yew.

The 28-year-old Srikanth produced an improved performance compared to the legendary Prakash Padukone (bronze in 1983), B Sai Praneeth (bronze in 2019) and Lakshya Sen (bronze in this edition), whom he had beaten in the semifinals on Saturday.

Also, the maiden silver placed Srikanth alongside P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, who in the past finished as a runner-up.

In 2019, Sindhu had won the coveted gold, two silver and two bronze medals, while at 2015, Saina claimed silver at the 2015 and a bronze at 2017 Glasgow. First time India won two medals in the singles at the World Championships for men. It is a significant achievement for Srikanth in spite of the loss, who had been down with issues related to fitness and lack of form ever since knee injury during the 2017 French Open final after claiming four Super Series titles that year.

12th seed Srikanth fought a tough battle with Loh Kean Yew, who relied on his attacking game and lightening footwork, pressuring on the Indian player.

At present, Srikanth ranked 14th in the world, had his moments but he wasted leads of 9-3 and 18-16 in the two games to see the coveted title slip out of his fingers.

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