US Open Badminton: Kidambi Srikanth storms into first final of the year with gritty win over Okimoto

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth defeated Japan's Yudai Okimoto in a hard-fought three-game semifinal to reach his first final of the year at the US Open. Teenager Rounak Chouhan bowed out in the semifinals, while Devika Sihag also exited.

Fullerton: Former world number one Kidambi Srikanth reached his first final of the year with a hard-fought win over Japan’s Yudai Okimoto in the men’s semifinals of the US Open Badminton tournament here on Sunday (IST).

The 33-year-old got the better of fourth seed Okimoto 22-20, 15-21, 21-19 in an hour and 12 minutes.

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Srikanth kept his nerve in the opening game after Okimoto had fought back from an 11-17 deficit to earn a game point. The Indian saved the point and won the next two to take the advantage. The Japanese shuttler, however, forced a decider with a strong showing in the second game.

The final game followed a similar script to the first as Srikanth opened up a 10-5 lead only for Okimoto to draw level at 12-all. Srikanth then pocketed six straight points, 12-13, before conceding five himself to make it 18-all. The Indian then relied on his experience to mix up the pace and wrap up the match.

Meanwhile, Indian teen qualifier Rounak Chouhan’s sensational run came to an end in the semifinals at the hands of Chinese Taipei’s eighth seed Su Li Yang, who will take on Srikanth in the summit clash.

Chouhan won his two qualifying round matches and then took down No. 74 Sankar Subramanian before causing the upset of the tournament, beating world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen 21-17, 26-24.

The 19-year-old then held off Misha Zilberman 23-21 21-11 before eventually running out of steam in the semifinals against No. 46 Su, 17-21, 19-21.

In women’s singles, Thailand Masters champion Devika Sihag could not sustain the momentum after winning the opening game against second seed Line Christophersen of Denmark, going down 15-21, 21-11, 21-15.

Christophersen made her first final since the Macau Open last August. The Dane shook off the opening game loss and made her way past Sihag.