Kidambi Srikanth ended his memorable campaign at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 with a runner-up finish in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

Playing his first final since December 2021, when he won a silver medal at the BWF World Championships, Srikanth could not overcome an all-round display by the nimble-footed Li Shi Feng, the World No. 4, as he went down 21-11, 21-9 in 36 minutes.

Srikanth showed brilliant awareness at the net and won points with smashes; he even unleashed a booming smash at a pace of 402 km/h to rattle Shi Feng. However, the Chinese shuttler's impeccable defence and swift court coverage got the better of the 32-year-old Indian.

The 25-year-old Shi Feng, meeting Srikanth for the second time this year since the Swiss Open in March, won the match on the first match point itself with a smash. The win helped Shi Feng extend his head-to-head tally over Srikanth to 4–1. This was also his first title since the Japan Masters Super 500 in Kumamoto.

'Happy To Be Back On The Podium'

This was Srikanth's first final on the BWF World Tour (previously Super Series) since the 2019 India Open, where he lost to Viktor Axelsen to finish as runner-up.

Srikanth last won a BWF Tour title in 2017 at the French Open, which was a Super Series event then. It was the year he was at the peak of his form. That season, he clinched four Super Series titles in total, including the Indonesia Open, Australia Open, and Denmark Open. Not only did he become the first Indian man to win the French Open, but he also joined an elite group of men’s singles players to win four titles in a calendar year. Before him, only legendary players Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, and Chen Long had achieved this feat.

This defeat dashed Srikanth's hopes of winning his first title in 8 years. Srikanth, however, is happy to be back on the podium for the first time in more than three and a half years. "To be back again on the podium really feels special," he told BWF after the final.

"Pretty good week. It is my third tournament also. Played decently well in the first two as well but could not really win those matches. But pretty happy with the way how it went so far. Not exactly the way I wanted to be today but still I think he played really well," Srikanth reflected on his performance in the Malaysia Masters.

On his comeback after a prolonged injury induced break, Srikanth said: "People really missed me. But yeah, very happy to be back again. And obviously I fell during Singapore Open last year (causing knee injury) and then I had to take a little off. But then again it got a little extended, more than I thought. And then I also got married last year in November. So that is another break."

"I started from January. It is always tough when you are coming back from an injury and also from break. And then when you have not really played too many matches it is not easy to come directly and play the tournament. It took some time. I think the positive of everything is that I'm feeling better physically. So I just want to continue from here (on the World Tour)," he added.

Srikanth, now ranked 65th, gave a good account of himself throughout the tournament, showing signs of his improved fitness and regained agility. Starting in the qualifiers, he took down younger and higher-ranked opponents like Toma Junior Popov and Yushi Tanaka in the quarterfinal and semifinal.

Srikanth's shining performance in Kuala Lumpur was a rare spark for Indian men's singles, which has been struggling to make deeper runs for a while now. The veteran shuttler will now look to work harder and leverage the gains he made at the tournament to chase his first title in the World Tour era.