Malaysia Masters: Fit-again Srikanth shows vintage form, ends long wait for a title clash

In the hours after he beat Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 21-18, 24-22 in the semifinals of the Malaysia Masters World Tour 500 event, Kidambi Srikanth would have got a fair number of congratulatory messages. It’s easy to see why. The win takes him to his first major final since 2021. It is also his first summit clash on the World Tour in nearly six years – having previously reached the India Open final in March 2019.

There’s one notable absentee in Srikanth’s message or call lists though. It’s former India No. 1 Parupalli Kashyap who is one of the coaches Srikanth is currently training with at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad (he also trains with RMV Gurusaidutt and Pulella Gopi Chand).

“I’ve not called or messaged Srikanth for the last week. Right now, I don’t want to do anything that might jinx him,” says Kashyap.

If Kashyap’s unwilling to risk anything that might break the momentum behind Srikanth, it’s because he knows just how significant this moment is for the 32-year-old. “I’ve seen Srikanth throughout his career. I’ve admired him as an opponent but also as a player and now as a coach. I’ve seen him rise and fall and go through so many highs and lows. This is such an important moment for him. He’s had a lot of tough years in recent times,” Kashyap says.

Acute struggle

The struggle has been acute since mid 2022. Although he failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, he ended the year on a high, winning a silver at the World Championships. He had been one of the linchpins of India’s historic gold medal at the Thomas Cup in May 2022. Since then, persistent injuries – to his ankle, knees and back – and a resulting loss of form and confidence followed. He failed to qualify for the 2024 Games in Paris and as the slide extended into 2025, his rankings started to tumble. Once ranked World No. 1, Srikanth fell to 82 in the BWF Rankings at the start of May 2025. For several years, Srikanth was the undisputed best male singles player in the country. Currently, there are nine Indian men ranked higher than him.

That slide meant that Srikanth had to come through the qualification round to make it to the main draw – something he had to do even at the Malaysia Masters. “No matter what anyone says, it’s a huge hit to the ego, especially if you have played at the elite level for as long as someone like Srikanth has,” says Kashyap.

READ | Srikanth enters Malaysia Masters final after beating Yushi Tanaka in straight games

Recent results hadn’t been confidence-boosting. Going into the Malaysia Masters this week, Srikanth had an 8-8 win-loss record for the year, with three of those victories coming in the qualifying round. In the current Asia leg of the World Tour, Srikanth had lost to Ayush Shetty in the second round of the Taipei Open. He also went down to Tharun Mannepalli in the second round of qualification at the Thailand Open last week. Even for someone who has seen Srikanth’s struggle in recent years, the last few months have been especially difficult. “Honestly, he had a very rough 6-8 months. With his ranking, it gets even tougher when we aren’t even sure which tournaments to play and get results in. It’s been a tough ride,” admits Gurusaidutt.

Despite these defeats, Gurusaidutt, who was sitting in the coaches chair behind Srikanth at the Malaysia Masters, was hopeful of a turnaround. “Srikanth wasn’t getting the big results but he’s been having good matches where he wasn’t able to convert the big points. Last year, he was up 19-12 in the third game against Kento Momota in the Asian Team Championships and he lost from there. He was up 16-13 against Lu Guang Zu in the third game at last year’s French Open but lost from there. In both matches, he was dominating the match before he lost. He became really aggressive when he tried to close them off and that ended up costing him,” says Gurusaidutt.

Backing off to win

Gurusaidutt says he, Kashyap and coach Gopi Chand spoke to Srikanth about that aggression that cost the matches. However, he also understood why Srikanth was playing that way. “All three of us (Kashyap, Gopi Chand and Gurusaidutt) felt there was a need for him (Srikanth) to back off some of these over ambitious shots. Against Momota, he was leading 19-14 when he had the chance to place a shot from the front court but ended up hitting it into the net because he was trying to force a winner. The reason he even went for that half chance is because he was physically not fit enough and anyone who saw him play could see that. He had to go for the lines and hit as close to the net because he wasn’t sure if he could stay in a longer rally,” he says.

This lack of fitness wasn’t because of any lack of intent in training for Srikanth. “There’s no one who is as hard working as him. You tell him to do anything and he will. But he just had constant niggles that didn’t allow him to train as much as he needed to. This was probably inevitable. He’s 32 now. He’s not the same 25-year-old who could push himself without noticing the impact it was having on his body,” says Kashyap.

It’s only in 2025, following the Swiss Open in March, that Srikanth was able to train the way he needed to. “With players of the level and experience that Srikanth has, it doesn’t matter what’s happened in the last several years. All they need is a good six-week block of training and you can see the difference,” says Gurusaidutt.

Improved fitness

But Srikanth isn’t just in a better shape physically. “One thing I’d told Srikanth was that while as a coach he was great to work with, he needed to be more responsible for his own training. In fact, in these last few weeks, he has been taking a lot of initiative in that. He’s been able to take control of his training. His practise sessions have focus on finding his speed not just with his movement on court but also his racquet speed,” says Kashyap.

But it’s that improved fitness that both Kashyap and Gurusaidutt feel have made the most difference. “Even though he didn’t go very far in both Taipei and Thailand, he’s been able to keep up his intensity for a third straight week. He’s already played six matches at the Malaysia Masters and two of those matches (first round against Lu Guang Zu and quarterfinal against Toma Junior Popov) have gone to three games. There’s never been one match where it seemed he was struggling physically. He’s been able to attack while still keeping enough of a margin for himself. It’s only when you are doubtful of your fitness that you go for the lines but he knows he has the ability to play three games if he has to. I don’t think he’s been in this shape since just before the Olympic qualification period. When he had those questions over fitness, he was approaching the match thinking of managing the match. But now that he is fit, he is thinking strategically on how to win individual points rather than trying to figure out how to conserve yourself,” says Kashyap.

That improved fitness means Srikanth is willing to play a more measured and less error-prone game. “More than attacking all the time, he knows when he needs to back off,” says Gurusaidutt.

This is something Srikanth has observed as well. “It’s been a while since I’ve won this many matches in a tournament and I hope I can continue to do so. I’ve always been trying to better myself and this win just proves that whatever I’m doing is working,” Srikanth told BWF media after his win.

His job isn’t done just yet.

In his four main draw matches, Srikanth has beaten players all ranked higher than him – World No. 13 Lu Guang Zu in the first round, World No. 33 Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in the second round, World No. 18 Toma Junior Popov of France in the quarterfinal, and World No. 23 Yushi Tanaka of Japan in the semifinal. His biggest test will come in the final against World No. 4 Li Shi Feng of China.

The two have played each other four times with the Chinese, a former two-time junior world champion, winning on the last three occasions. While it is the Chinese player who will go in as the favourite, it would be hard to count Srikanth out just yet. “Right now, he must be full of confidence. His run in this tournament would have reminded him not just that he can be in the top 10 but that he absolutely belongs at this level,” says Kashyap.