Veteran Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth stunned Canadaโs Victor Lai with a commanding 21โ18, 21โ19 straightโgames victory to enter the menโs singles quarterfinals of the China Masters Super 750.
Veteran Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth stunned Canada’s Victor Lai in straight games to qualify for the men’s singles quarterfinals at the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament on Thursday.
Former World No. 1 Srikanth put up a dominant display against the World No. 9, controlling key rallies to clinch a 21-18, 21-19 upset over Lai in 43 minutes, who is coming off a World Championship bronze medal finish in New Delhi.
Srikanth defat Lai in straight games
After the first game picked up a 3-3 start, Srikanth trailed 3-7 but made a quick recovery to take the score 8-8. The veteran Indian shuttler seized the advantage after his Canadian counterpart made a stretch of unforced errors.
Lai found his rhythm early, moving ahead 15โ11 with sharp smashes, but Srikanth responded with a blistering jumpโsmash to level the score at 15โ15.
Srikanth went on to take the score to 18-16 with a cross-court smash and also grabbed three game points with a net shot, sealing the opener on his second opportunity as Lai faltered at the net.
Upon changing sides, Srikanth trailed once again after unforced errors left him 5-9 down but stayed close on Lai’s heels. The Indian veteran delivered two powerful smashes, and a couple of mistakes at the net narrowed the gap from 9-14 to 13-14.
More from Badminton NewsSrikkanth kept pressing and earned the match point, which is when Lai went wide, leading to the Indian shuttler’s victory.
Srikanth, the former world No. 1 and 2021 World Championships silver-medallist, will face Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu in the next match.
Tanvi, Dhruv & Kapila bow out
In women’s singles, Tanvi Sharma, who won the Taipei Open World Tour Super 300 title recently, showed gumption to fight but imploded at the back end to go down 17-21, 21-18, 16-21 to world No. 9 Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan in the second round.
India’s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also bowed out after losing 18-21, 18-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Liu Kuang Heng and Hsu Yin Hui in mixed doubles.