China Masters: Kidambi Srikanth, Satwik-Chirag reach quarters

Shenzhen: India’s Kidambi Srikanth stunned world No. 9 Canadian Victor Lai to reach the men’s singles quarter-finals at the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament on Thursday.

 Former world No. 1 Srikanth, the 2021 World Championships silver medallist, registered a straight-games win, 21-18, 21-19, over the Canadian, a bronze medallist at the last two BWF World Championships, here at Shenzhen Arena.

Srikanth continued his strong run in China after a confident start to the tournament. He defeated Chinese Taipei’s World No. 21 Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-15 in just 35 minutes in the opening round. He will face Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong, who beat World No. 9 Toma Popov in the Round of 16.

Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty delivered a strong performance to defeat France’s Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov 21-17, 22-24, 21-9, booking their place in the quarter-finals.

The Indian pair, who had entered the tournament as the fourth seeds, recovered well after letting the second game slip and dominated the decider to secure a comfortable victory over the French brothers.

Satwik and Chirag finished the match with 64 points, compared with the Popov brothers’ 50. The Indians also won nine game points, while the French pair managed two.

Earlier, Lai had sent Lakshya Sen through the round of 32 to set up a meeting with Srikanth, who defeated Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei in straight games.

This is Srikanth’s second quarter-final of the season, after the former world No. 1 finished runner-up at the US Open in June.

Meanwhile, Tanvi Sharma has been knocked out after losing to Tomoka Miyazaki 17-21, 21-18, 16-21. Tanvi’s loss ended India’s challenge in the women’s singles.

In the mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also suffered a loss at the hands of Liu Kuang Heng and Hsu Yin-Hui of Taipei. Agencies

Also Read: US Open: Alcaraz Rallies Past Faria, Shelton Overcomes Hurkacz to Advance