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Kidambi Srikanth reaches US Open final after defeating Yudai Okimoto, eyes first BWF World Tour title since 2017 in a major boost for Indian badminton.
Kidambi Srikanth will play in the finals of US Open (Picture credit: Badminton Photo)
Star Indian men’s singles shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, on Sunday, June 28, beat a higher-ranked Yudai Okimoto in a three-game thriller, as he booked a spot in the finals of the US Open.
Srikanth beat Okimoto 22-20, 15-21, 21-19 in one hour and 12 minutes to reach his first men’s singles BWF World Tour final in seven months. He had finished as a runner-up at the Syed Modi International in November.
Srikanth, who has fallen down the rankings due to the emergence of young Indian talent, put up a brave face and kept his nerves to get the better of Okimoto.
Earlier in the day, star Indian women’s singles shuttler Devika Sihag lost in three games to second seed Line Christophersen. The Indian youngster had won the first game 21-15 but couldn’t maintain the momentum and lost the next two 11-21, 15-21.
Star Indian men’s singles shuttler Rounak Chouhan, who had earlier taken out top seed Chou Tien Chen, couldn’t keep up his dream run and lost to eighth seed Su Li Yang.
Yang will now take on Srikanth in the men’s singles final.
This is Srikanth’s best performance on tour this year, not having played any quarterfinals till now. Besides the Syed Modi International, he had also finished as a runner-up at the Malaysia Masters in May 2025.
Srikanth will be looking to break a nine-year-long wait for a title on the tour, having last won one at the 2017 French Open, when he beat Kenta Nishimoto in straight games in the final.
Earlier, Srikanth packed off Liao Jhuo-Fu of Chinese Taipei 21-9, 12-21, 21-8 to raise hopes of an all-India final on Sunday, but Rounak fell short.
Srikanth’s performance will be a big boost for the Indian badminton squad, which will play at the Asian Games. He has been named in the men’s team, which won silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
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