Instances of all-Indian semi-finals in men's singles of BWF Super 500 or above level

Published at :August 11, 2023 at 6:20 PM

Modified at :January 13, 2024 at 5:40 PM

HS Prannoy and Srikanth Kidambi feature twice on the list.

HS Prannoy and Priyanshu Rajawat played an all-Indian semi-finals in the Australian Open 2023. Indians have historically done well in the singles events of the BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Tour. The likes of PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, B Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap, HS Prannoy and Srikanth Kidambi have won multiple titles at the highest levels of badminton. Moreover, the youngsters like Lakshya Sen and Priyanshu Rajawat have also started making waves in the BWF World Tour.

However, it hasn’t been often when all of the top players of the Indian badminton team have done well concurrently. When Saina Nehwal’s game was at its peak, Sindhu was still an upcoming talent. And when Sindhu started taking over the biggest tournaments of the calendar year, Saina’s abilities had already started waning.

And so, the recent forms of HS Prannoy, Priyanshu Rajawat and Lakshya Sen have been a breath of fresh air in the Indian badminton community. Only twice ever before the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2023 did two Indians play each other in the semi-final of a BWF World Tour Super 500 or above event.

We take a look at the list of times when we witnessed an all-Indian semi-final in the men’s singles event of a BWF World Tour 500 or above event:

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List of all Indian semi-finals in men’s singles of BWF Super 500 (Super Series) or above event:

2017 French Open: Srikanth Kidambi vs HS Prannoy

Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy — **Srikanth and Prannoy are among the leading men’s singles shuttlers in the country (Courtesy: BAI)**

2017 was the year of Srikanth Kidambi. The now-30-year-old was unplayable in the 2017 and 2018 calendar years. Before playing the French Open 2017 all Indian semi-finals, he had already featured in the first-ever all-India final of a BWF Super Series event when he lost to B Sai Praneeth in the Singapore Super Series title decider.

HS Prannoy, on the other hand, was still struggling to break into the top 20 of the BWF men’s singles rankings. The two had a very contrasting path to the semi-finals, with Kidambi having to face tougher rivals. In the all Indian semi-finals, HS Prannoy bowed out after losing the second and third sets of the game. Srikanth went on to win the tournament.

2021 World Championships: Srikanth Kidambi vs Lakshya Sen

Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth — **Sen and Srikanth faced-off in the World Championships 2021 semifinal (Courtesy: BAI)**

Srikanth Kidambi has had a superior head-to-head record against every Indian men’s singles player he has faced throughout his career. Only B Sai Praneeth and Parupalli Kashyap have managed to not lose more times than they have won against the 30-year-old. And Srikanth’s record against Lakshya Sen is no different. The veteran has managed three wins without recording a loss against Lakshya.

The two players played each other in the all-Indian semi-finals of the 2021 World Championships. Srikanth Kidambi came into the game on the back of impressive wins against the likes of Li Shifeng whereas, Sen punched above his weight by reaching the all-Indian semi-finals, getting the better of the likes of Kenta Nishimoto in the process.

The first set, like in the 2017 French Open semi-final, went against Srikanth Kidambi. However, the veteran yet again managed to win the next two sets, and thus the game. He lost to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in the final.

2023 Australian Open: HS Prannoy vs Priyanshu Rajawat

HS Prannoy was once again involved in an all-Indian semi-final at a BWF Super 500 or above event. This time, he faced the upcoming talent, Priyanshu Rajawat. Priyanshu came into the tournament on the back of an impressive 2023 calendar year, having won his first BWF title, the Orleans Masters. Prannoy also won his first BWF World Tour title in 2023, the Malaysia Masters.

Before their semi-final meet, Prannoy defeated the top-seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, and Priyanshu Rajawat managed to get the better of Srikanth Kidambi. And this time, HS Prannoy did not let his first set win go in vain in an all-Indian semi-final of a BWF Super 500 or above event. The then-31-year-old beat the youngster in straight sets to reach the finals. However, he lost to Weng Hongyang in the finals.

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