FULLERTON: Star Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth edged out Japan’s Yudai Okimoto in a three-game thriller to progress to the men’s singles final of the US Open Super 300 badminton championships here.
Srikanth, a 2021 world championships silver medallist, recorded a 22-20, 15-21, 21-19 win over World No. 33 Okimoto in 72 minutes to enter his first final of the season.
Srikanth, a former world No. 1, will meet World No 46 Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei in the summit clash.
Young shuttler Rounak Chouhan's dream run at his maiden Super 300 tournament ended with a 17-21 19-21 loss to Su Li Yang in the other men’s singles semifinal.
In the women’s singles, sixth seed Devika Sihag, who won the Thailand Masters earlier this year, fell to Denmark’s second seed Line Christophersen 21-15, 11-21, 15-21 in a 54-minute semifinals.
Srikanth, now ranked 38th, made a bright start, racing to a 9-5 lead before extending it to 17-10. But Okimoto staged a remarkable comeback, winning 10 of the next 12 points to earn a game point.
The 33-year-old Indian snapped out of his slumber just in time, reeling off the next three points to pocket the opening game.
After the change of ends, Okimoto looked determined to force a decider. He controlled the rallies and stayed ahead for most of the game, taking a slender 11-9 lead at the interval before gradually pulling away to roar back into the contest.
In the decider, Srikanth rediscovered his mojo, opening up a 10-5 lead. But that advantage soon evaporated as Okimoto moved 13-12 ahead. The Indian then won six straight points to surge to 18-13.
The Japanese once again fought back to level the scores at 18-18, but Srikanth held his nerve to prevail in the end.