US Open 2026: Kidambi Srikanth to play Su Li Yang in final
Fullerton, June 28
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.
The 33-year-old got the better of fourth seed Okimoto 22-20, 15-21, 21-19 in an hour and 12 minutes in the match on Saturday to set up a summit clash against Chinese Taipei's eighth seed Su Li Yang.
Su ended the dream run of India's Rounak Chouhan with a 21-17, 21-19 win in the other semifinals.
In the women's singles semifinal, 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.
But the day belonged to Srikanth, who kept his nerves in the opening game after Okimoto had fought back from an 11-17 deficit to earn a game point.
Srikanth saved the point and won the next two to grab 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 12-12.
Srikanth then grabbed six straight points, 12-13, before conceding five himself to make it 18-18. The Indian then relied on his experience to mix up the pace and wrap up the match.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Happy for Srikanth but a bit sad for Rounak Chouhan and Devika Sihag. Rounak gave a good fight against the eighth seed, and Devika won the first game against Christophersen—so close! Indian badminton is definitely on the rise though. Let's go Srikanth! 🏸🇮🇳
Great to see Srikanth back in a final! The way he saved that game point and then won six straight points in the decider shows his class. He's had some tough years with injuries, but this is a great comeback story. Hope he finishes strong!
Honestly, Srikanth's consistency has been a worry lately, but credit where it's due—this was a gutsy performance. He needs to work on closing out matches more cleanly though; letting Okimoto come back from 17-11 and 13-12 is not ideal. Still, proud of him! 🙌
Wow, what a match! The back-and-forth in the third set was incredible—12-12 to 18-18, then he closed it out with experience. Srikanth is a true champion. Also nice to see Indian shuttlers making deep runs in tournaments abroad. Exciting times for Indian badminton!
So proud of Srikanth! He might not be the world number one anymore, but he still has that fighting spirit. The way he mixed up pace in the final game against Okimoto was pure class. Hope he wins the final—we need more Indian badminton stars on the world stage! 💪
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