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Kidambi Srikanth, who already scripted a history by becoming the first Indian to make it to the final of BWF World Badminton Champioships in men's singles, lost in straight games to Loh Kean Yew at 15-21, 22-20 on Sunday. Even this defeat brought glory to India as Srikanth settled for a silver medal as he went down fighting.
Former world no.1, Srikanth lost against the 22nd-ranked Singaporean in just 42 minutes to end up as the runner-up.
Srikanth's only meeting against Loh Kean before this final came at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 where the Indian shutter was able to clinch a victory in straight games.
Overall, Srikanth is the fourth Indian male shuttler to win a medal at this prestigious tournament after Prakash Padukone (Bronze in 1983), B Sai Praneeth (Bronze in 2019), Lakshya Sen (Bronze 2021).
In the first round, Srikanth overcame Spain's Pablo Abian 21-12, 21-16 in straight games.In the second round, the 28-year-old Indian shuttler defeated China's LI Shi Feng 15-12, 2-18, 21-17 in a thrilling encounter.The next round saw Srikanth tame China's LU Guang Zu 21-10, 21-5.
In the quarters, he breezed past Netherlands' Mark Caljouw 21-8, 21-7. A victory over his compatriot Lakshya Sen at 17-21, 21-14, 21-17 in the semifinals followed suit.
On the other hand, Loh Kean Yew prevailed over Olympic champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the first round. He downed the defending champion 14-21, 21-9, 21-6.
Meanwhile, World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying, who beat PV Sindhu in the quarters, finished with a silver medal as she was upstaged by Japan's Akane Yamaguchi at 14-21, 11-21 in a lop-sided match.
