Srikanth eases into quarters

Odense (Denmark), October 15

Indian badminton star Kidambi Srikanth entered the Denmark Open quarterfinals with a straight-game win over Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue here today. The fifth seed took only 33 minutes to get the better of his Canadian opponent, winning 21-15 21-14 in the second round of the $750,000 Super 750 tournament.

“It was close until 11 in both games. I’m just happy that I could continue that form throughout the match. I had to be alert to get back his shots,” Srikanth later said.

The 27-year-old is likely to next face world No. 2 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.

Talking about Chou Tien Chen, Srikanth said: “He’s been playing well the last few years. It’s definitely a match where I can understand where I’m at. That’s the whole idea of playing this tournament. He’s someone who has an overall game, he has a hard smash, he knows when to attack and when to defend. He has matured. It’s always good when you play a top-4 player.”

In the opening game, Srikanth zoomed to a 9-4 lead before grabbing a three-point advantage at the break. He then reeled off six points to easily win the game. Srikanth fell behind 5-8 in the second game but bounced back with six straight points to reach 11-8 at the interval. The Canadian made it 10-11 after resumption. Srikanth then stepped up the pace and was immediately rewarded as he opened up a 15-10 lead. He constructed the rallies well to quickly jump to 19-11 before closing the match.

Lakshya Sen lost 21-15 7-21 17-21 to Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus. — PTI