BWF World Championship silver medallist Kidambi Srikant says `hard work seems to pay off`

Former World No.1 Kidambi Srikant thanked his fans for supporting him after winning the silver medal at the BWF World Championship.

Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on Monday (December 20) after winning a historic silver medal at the BWF World Championships said it was massively fulfilling to reach the final in Huelva. The former world No. 1 Srikanth became the first Indian to win a silver in the men's singles at the badminton world championships, with Prakash Padukone (1983), B Sai Praneeth (2019), and Lakshya Sen (2021) winning a bronze each.

In the summit clash in Sapin, the Indian was defeated by Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 21-15, 22-20 on Sunday, December 19. The final lasted for 43 minutes."All the hard work seems to pay off! Reaching the finals of the World Championship was massively fulfilling, and I am extremely grateful to each one of you for your constant love & support!" Kidambi tweeted on Monday.

Coming to the final match, the 12th-seeded Indian came out all guns blazing and took an early 9-3 lead, but Yew bounced back, winning the first game 21-15.

Srikanth was left with all to do in the second game if he wanted to keep his hopes alive of walking away with a gold medal. Yew carried on with his momentum and he wrapped up the match in straight games.