Anup Sridhar's stupendous run in the Asian Badminton Championships came to an end on Saturday when he went down to Olympic and Asian Games champion Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia in the men's singles semi-finals, at Johar Baru, Malaysia.
Sridhar lost 19-21, 14-21.
Hidayat will meet second seed Chen Hong in the final. The Chinese prevailed 21-14, 17-21, 21-17 over Yeoh Kay Bin of Malaysia in a thrilling match.
The defeat notwithstanding, the Bangalore-based Sridhar, who upset Shoji Sato of Japan in the quarter-finals on Friday, will be proud of his achievement, as this was his second semi-final this season in a prestigious event.
Sridhar had earlier made it to the German Open semi-finals last month.
Sridhar's fine showing would also serve as an answer to the Badminton Association of India questioning the endurance level of its top shuttlers and asking them to train in camps for the next two months rather than playing in the Super Series events.
Sridhar and other shuttlers had sought the BAI's permission to participate in the Singapore and Indonesian Opens on their own but their request was turned down.
After the excellent performance this season, Sridhar's non-participation in these events will surely hurt his form and rankings.
