German Open: Srikanth enter QF, Sindhu out

Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany), Mar 10 (Agency) World championships silver medallist shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on Thursday advanced to the quarterfinal of German Open Super 300 tournament beating China’s Lu Guang Zu 21-16, 21-23, 21-18 here at the Westenergie Sporthalle. Former world champion PV Sindhu, however, crashed out in second round after losing 14-21, 21-15, 14-21 to Zhang Yi Man of China. After winning the first set 21-16, Srikanth had to put up a fight take the match in straight sets but the Chinese managed to forced the decider after winning the second game 23-21. In the deciding game, Srikanth head on to break with a slight 11-10 lead.

Post break, the close contest continued as the scores were 15-all. The Chinese kept posing a threat to Srikanth, but the Indian opted a smarter shots to keep his opponent at bay and wrapped up a victory by taking the deciding set 21-18. Srikanth will be up against either world no 1 Danish shuttler Viktor Axelsen or Toma Junior Popov of France in the quarterfinals. In the another women’s singles match, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered 10-21, 15-21 defeat at the hands of Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the second round match.