Shillong: Kidambi Srikanth finished his US Open campaign as runner-up. He lost a hard-fought three-game final against Su Li-yang on Sunday in Fullerton. The match lasted just over an hour.
Srikanth dropped the opener 15-21 but clawed back to take the second game 21-16. The veteran could not maintain that momentum in the decider. Su, ranked 46th in the world, dominated the final set to win 21-9. Su is nine years younger than the 33-year-old Indian star.
The match proved physically taxing for the former World Championships silver-medallist. Srikanth reflected on the loss after the trophy ceremony. "I could have played a little better maybe in the opening set. Otherwise, I feel I’ve played okay. The second half of third set it was just hitting really well all of a sudden," he said.
This marks another close call for Srikanth. He also finished as the runner-up at last year’s Malaysia Masters and Syed Modi International events.
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