India’s ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth scripted a commanding 21-18, 21-9 victory over world No. 6 and top seed Chou Tien-Chen to book a place in the semifinals of the Canada Open Super 300 tournament.
The 32-year-old from Guntur displayed vintage form, dismantling Chou in a 43-minute quarterfinal that highlighted Srikanth’s tactical precision and court awareness. Coming into the clash with a 4–6 record against the Chinese Taipei star, Srikanth showed early aggression, racing to a 5–0 lead and maintaining composure during Chou’s brief comeback in the opening game.
The second game saw Srikanth shift into high gear—storming ahead from 4–4 to an 11–6 lead at the interval and closing the match with a dominant 21–9 finish.
Currently ranked 49th globally, Srikanth will face Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto next, with whom he shares a 6–4 head-to-head advantage. Their last encounter, however, saw the Japanese shuttler prevail at the 2023 World Championships.
With this win, Srikanth remains the lone Indian contender at the $240,000 tournament, continuing his resurgence following a runner-up finish at the Malaysia Masters in May.
