In what was a repeat of the 2021 World Championship semifinal, India’s Kidambi Srikanth defeated compatriot Lakshya Sen in straight games to reach the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open badminton championship here on Thursday.
Srikanth, who had defeated Lakshya in that match to reach the final of the 2021 World Championship in Huelva, Spain, losing to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, emerged 21-17, 22-20 winner to qualify for the last-eight stage of this BWF World Tour Super 1000 event which has a total prize fund of USD 1,250,000.
In the first game, Srikanth came back after conceding the lead twice to eventually won the game in the 45-minute encounter.
Lakshya, who is ranked 14th in the World, jumped to a 3-0 lead before Srikanth narrowed it to 4-3. However, Lakshya won three more points in a row to 8-4 up before Srikanth clawed back his way into the game to make it 10-9. The two shuttlers went neck-and-neck before Srikanth, ranked 20th in the latest BWF World Rankings surged ahead to a 17-14 lead.
Though Lakshya caught up with him at 17-all, Srikanth won the next four points to seal a 21-17 win.
The second game was also a close affair as the two players fought hard for the first few points before Srikanth opened an 8-5 lead over his opponent from Uttarakhand who currently trains in Bengaluru.
Lakshya Sen caught up with him at 10-10 and took the lead at 12-10 but Srikanth levelled scores at 13-all and then won the next six points to surge to 19-12 lead. The 30-year-old from Andhra Pradesh had six match points but Lakshya saved them all and levelled the scores at 20-20.
However, Srikanth could not be denied victory on Thursday as he won the next two points to win the game and match at 22-20.
It will be a busy day for the Indians at the Istora in the Indonesian capital as singles stars P.V Sindhu and H.S Prannoy besides top doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are scheduled to take the court in their respective categories later in the day.
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