P V Sindhu, Saina Nehwal Bow Out; Kidambi Srikanth Wins

MULHEIM: World championships silver winner Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the men's singles quarter-finals but P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal crashed out of the women's competition following second-round losses in the German Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Muelheim An Der Ruhr, Germany, on Thursday.

Srikanth, a former World No 1 and seeded eighth, prevailed 21-16, 21-23, 21-18 over China's Lu Guang Zu in a second-round match.

He will next face Olympic champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who beat France's Toma Junior Popov 21-17, 21-10 in another match.

The seventh seeded Sindhu, a 2019 World Champion, however, suffered a shock 14-21, 21-15, 14-21 loss against China's Zhang Yi Man in 55 minutes in the women's singles second round.

Saina, who has been struggling with fitness issues, also proved no match against eighth seeded Thai Ratchanok Intanon, going down 10-21, 15-21 in a lop-sided contest.

Srikanth, who was forced to pull out of the India Open after testing positive for COVID-19, dished out a gritty performance to outlast his world no 27 opponent in a thrilling match that lasted an hour and seven minutes.

Earlier in the day, it proved to be a disappointing start to the European leg for Sindhu, who will be one of the contenders at next week's All England Championships.

The Indian couldn't get going as Zhang broke off at 5-5 and jumped to a 11-5 lead with six straight points. She kept her nose ahead to pocket the opening game without much ado.

Stung by the reversal, Sindhu made a comeback in the second game as she fought her way to a slender 11-10 lead at the break and then slowly marched ahead to bounce back into the contest.

But the Chinese found her bearing in the decider as she moved away after an initial duel to grab a 11-8 advantage at the interval. She didn't give the Indian much chance after that and soon shut the doors on her fancied opponent. Agencies

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