Srikanth wins, Sindhu, Saina lose in German Open

Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the men's singles quarterfinals but two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and London bronze medallist Saina Nehwal bowed out following losses at the German Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Thursday. Srikanth, a former world no 1 and seeded eighth here, prevailed 21-16 21-23 21-18 over China's Lu Guang Zu in a second round match. He is likely to face Olympic champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark next.

The seventh seeded Sindhu, a 2019 World Champion, however, suffered a shock 14-21 21-15 14-21 loss to 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 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.

The Indian made a good start, opening up a 8-3 lead early on but Lu made a late charge before Srikanth managed to enter the break at 11-10. The duo were locked at 14-14 after the interval when Srikanth stepped ahead with a four-point burst to seal the opening game. After lagging initially, Srikanth managed to eke out a 15-11 lead in the second game but Lu kept fighting for each point and eventually snatched the second game after saving a match point to stay alive in the contest.