Kidambi Srikanth’s spirited run at the 2025 Canada Open Super 300 came to an abrupt halt as he went down in the men’s singles semi-finals on Saturday.
The former world No 1 went down 21-19, 14-21, 18-21 to Japan’s third seeded Kenta Nishimoto, despite pocketing the opening game.
Srikanth did not have the best of starts to the contest, trailing 5-8 in the opening game. Nishimoto called the shots for a majority of the first game and even led 18-16.
The Indian, however, fought back.
Srikanth won five of the next six points to stun the Japanese shuttler and win a hard fought opening game 21-19 with the young Sankar Muthusamy in his coaching corner.
Undeterred by the shift in momentum at a crucial stage, Nishimoto came out with a vengeance and raced to win the second game 21-14 and forced a decider.
Srikanth, once again, was slow off the blocks in the third game. He trailed 2-7 and looked completely off colour as Nishimoto sensed a comfortable victory.
But the Indian veteran refused to give up. Long, draining rallies ensued and Srikanth kept toiling and managed to eke out a 16-14 advantage.
Nishimoto, however, did not throw in the towel.
The Japanese shuttler held his nerves in the closing stages of the match, winning the seven of the final nine points to book his spot in the 2025 Canada Open Super 300 final.
