World Championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the men’s singles quarter finals but two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal bowed out of the German Open Super 300 badminton tournament here 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.
The seventh-seeded Sindhu, a 2019 world champion, 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.
In the decider, Srikanth was 10-5 up and though Lu made it 15-14 at one stage, the Indian quickly won back control and shut the doors on his rival.
Early in the day, it proved to be a disappointing start to the European leg for Sindhu.
