Malaysia Masters 2025: Kidambi Srikanth finishes as runner up

The former world-silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth had a disappointing end to his dream run at the Malaysia Masters Super 500, losing the final against Li Shi Feng at Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, Malaysia, on Sunday.

The world no.4 Feng outclassed the experienced Indian, who was on his first final on the BWF World Tour circuit after six years, in straight games (11-21, 9-21).

Earlier, Kidambi, who emerged from the qualifying draw, earned a hard-fought victory in straight games (21-18, 22-20) over a higher-ranked Yushi Tanaka of Japan in the semi-final.

Attacking Masterclass from Li Shi Feng

Feng displayed an outstanding aggressive play to outshine Kidambi in this one-sided affair, who tried to go over-aggressive and deny Feng a chance to attack, but eventually ended up making a lot of unforced errors.

Kidambi started the match aggressively and found some good attacking shots, but was well defended by Feng, which led to frustration for Kidambi, who tried to do something special but failed to do so.

Once the match progressed further, Feng found his groove and just did not let Kidambi come anywhere close, and won the match in just 36 minutes, dropping just 20 points throughout the match.

Kidambi might have missed out on his maiden BWF World Tour title, but his exceptional run in Malaysia will give him a good boost of confidence for the coming tournaments and he will aim to rise back in the top 40 rankings.