Indonesian Masters: Srikanth slips at final hurdle

Indian ace Kidambi Srikanth's gallant fight ended with a narrow three-game loss against home favourite Tommy Sugiarto in the men's singles finals of the $ 120,000 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament, in Malang, on Sunday.

In a summit clash that went down to the wire and saw four racquets being used during the course of play, Srikanth squandered a first-game advantage and missed the title by a whisker, losing 21-17, 13-21, 22-24 to the World No 12 in a match that lasted close to an hour.

The World No 9 Indian, who won the Swiss Open and India Super Series early in the season, had come into the match with a 1-2 win-loss record against Sugiarto.

Srikanth showed tremendous grit, fighting back from 7-11 to grab the match point at 21-20 but he could not provide the finishing touch and settled as runners-up.

Srikanth will next play at the prestigious BWF Super Series Final at Dubai, starting on Wednesday.