AUSTRALIAN

Srikanth wins against No. 1 as Indians sail

Sydney, June 22: Kidambi Srikanth and B. Sai Praneeth eked out thrilling victories in the men’s singles second round to set up an all-Indian quarterfinal clash at the $750,000 Australian Super Series, here on Thursday.

Olympic silver medallist P. V. Sindhu and defending champion Saina Nehwal also advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s singles competition.

Srikanth, who had edged out Son Wan Ho in the semifinals of Indonesia Open last week, once again had an upper hand against the World No. 1 Korean, beating him 15-21, 21-13, 21-13 in a 57-minute clash.

After this win, Srikanth had taken his head-to-head record against the Korean to 4-4.

In another match, Sai Praneeth staved off a challenge from China’s Huang Yuxiang 2115, 18-21, 21-13 in match that lasted 64-minutes. The Indian had beaten the Chinese at the 2015 US Open in their only meeting. Srikanth and Praneeth had clashed in the final of Singapore Open in April with the latter emerging victorious.

In the women’s singles, fifth seed Sindhu defeated China’s Chen Xiaoxin 21-13, 21-18 in 46minutes. She will clash with World No. 1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

Saina survived a scare from Soniia Cheah of USA 21-15, 2022, 21-14 to set up a clash with sixth seeded Sun Yu. The former World No. 1 defeated Sun six times, including a win at the finals in the Australian Open.

The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a 16-21, 18-21 loss to eighth seeded Chinese Taipei’s Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-Lin. — PTI