Kidambi Srikanth fell short in his bid to end a nine-year BWF title drought as he lost to Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang in the men’s singles final at the US Open 2026 badminton tournament in California on Sunday.
The former world No. 1 Indian badminton player went down 21-15, 16-21, 21-9 in a contest lasting one hour and nine minutes, settling for a runner-up finish in his first BWF World Tour final of the 2026 badminton season.
Srikanth hasn’t won a BWF title since lifting the French Open crown in 2017 during the Superseries era.
Su Li Yang started well, opening up a 10-5 lead in the first game. Srikanth fought back to level at 10-10 but the Chinese Taipei shuttler responded with a seven-point burst to seize control before taking the opener.
Srikanth, ranked 11 places ahead of Su Li Yang at world No. 38, bounced back strongly in the second game. Locked at 13-13, the Indian picked up seven of the next eight points to force a decider and keep his title hopes alive.
However, the momentum swung decisively in the final game. After Srikanth stayed within touching distance at 9-7, Su Li Yang won eight consecutive points to pull away before sealing the title.
The 33-year-old Srikanth had enjoyed an impressive run to the final, defeating Japan’s fourth seed Yudai Okimoto in the semi-finals after earlier eliminating Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, the Paris 2024 bronze medallist, in the second round.
It was Srikanth’s first appearance in a BWF World Tour final since the Syed Modi International badminton tournament in 2025.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/us-open-2026-badminton-final-report-kidambi-srikanth
