Historic World Championships silver for Kidambi Srikanth; Lakshya Sen settles for bronze

The World Championships silver medal is a culmination of years of intense hard work, said India’s Kidambi Srikanth after falling short of the top prize on Sunday. Even before his 15-21 20-22 loss to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the men’s singles final, the 28-year-old’s silver medal made him the first-ever Indian man to achieve the feat at the marquee tournament. (Source: PTI)

Meanwhile, signed off with a creditable bronze after losing an extremely close semifinal 17-21 21-14 21-17 to seasoned compatriot Kidambi Srikanth on Saturday. (Source: AP)

Silver medalist India's Kidambi Srikanth, gold medalist Singapore's Loh Kean Yew, bronze mefdalist Denmark's Anders Antonsen and bronze medalist India's Lakshya Sen pose on the podium of the Mens badminton singles at the BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain (Source: AP)

India returns home with two medals, despite tournament favourite and reigning champion PV Sindhu getting knocked out in quarterfinals (Screenshot)

“It has been a great week. Even today I had my chances in both the games. I had a healthy lead in first game and, even in second game, I had 18-16 cushion. I was not able to finish the match today. Loh played really well,” he said. “Lot of things to learn from this, so definitely I will work on this and try and get better for next tournaments.” (Source: AP)

Srikanth had faced a lot of difficulties in procuring his visa to get into Spain and the Indian said he wasn’t sure if he would be able to participate in the event. “I didn’t know if I would be able to come here until Thursday. I got to know on Thursday evening, I think around 6 that I got my visa, so I wasn’t sure if I will be able to come here. “So yeah, I am just happy to come here and play another tournament. It has been a great week for me. I was able to play well throughout the week. I would have loved to win today.” (Source: AP)

The Indian shuttlers were all smiles after their semifinal match against each other on Saturday. (Screenshot)

“It has been a long tournament and it is difficult to take such a loss when you are so close. I, at least, got a bronze, but I am not happy. I’m not very satisfied with the performance in the semifinals,” Sen, who squandered a slender 15-13 lead in the decider, told PTI.

“I played a lot of good matches, faced some tough opponents, even in the semifinal it was a close match, it could have gone in anybody’s favour. The medal is something to look forward to… next time I will go for the gold.” (Source: AP)