Kidambi Srikanth will attempt to end his nine-year BWF title drought when he faces off against Chinese Taipei’s Su Li-yang in the men’s singles final of the US Open 2026 on Sunday.

The former world No. 1, who last won a BWF title at the 2017 French Open, booked his place in the decider of the BWF Super 300 tournament in California by edging past Japan’s fourth seed Yudai Okimoto 22-20, 15-21, 21-19 in 72 minutes in a nail-biting semi-final on Saturday.

India’s Rounak Chouhan, who made it to his maiden BWF World Tour Super 300 semi-final with a stunning straight-games (21-17, 26-24) win over world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the second round, fell to Li-yang 21-17, 21-19.

The 18-year-old Indian met his match against the eighth seed, who will face Srikanth for the third time. The two have one win apiece in their previous meetings with Li-yang having won their last tussle at the Thailand Open in May.

Srikanth, 33, who has lost finals at the Malaysia Masters and Syed Modi International last year, will be looking to add to his trophy cabinet when he squares off against Li-yang.

In the women’s singles semi-finals, world No. 35 Devika Sihag succumbed to Denmark’s second seed Line Christophersen 15-21, 21-11, 21-15, despite winning the middle game to stay in the contest.

Devika had earlier caused a shock by knocking out Japan’s third seed and former junior world champion Riko Gunji en route to her third semi-final appearance this season. She has bagged two titles this year: the Thailand Masters (BWF Super 300) and the Azerbaijan International.

India’s doubles entries had earlier bowed out in the second round on Thursday.

Written by

Lakshya