Kidambi Srikanth surprised World No. 9 Victor Lai in straight video games to advance to the following spherical of the China Masters on Thursday.
The previous World No. 1 produced a composed efficiency to beat Lai 21-18, 21-19 in below an hour on the BWF Tremendous 750 match. He’ll face Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong China, who beat World No.9 Toma Popov within the R016.
After a 3-3 begin, Srikanth slipped to 3-7 earlier than recovering to stage at 8-8 as Lai dedicated a string of errors. The Canadian regained management to steer 15-11, however Srikanth responded with a strong bounce smash to attract stage. He moved 18-16 forward and sealed the opener on his second recreation level after Lai erred on the web.
Srikanth trailed 5-9 after the change of ends however stayed inside touching distance. Two highly effective smashes helped him minimize the deficit to 13-14. He then earned match level, with Lai hitting broad at hand Srikanth victory.
The victory was notably spectacular given Lai’s latest kind. The Canadian had knocked out India’s Lakshya Sen within the opening spherical and entered the China Masters on the again of a bronze-medal end on the BWF World Championships.
Srikanth, nevertheless, continued his sturdy run in China after making a assured begin to the match. He had defeated Chinese language Taipei’s World No. 21 Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-15 in simply 35 minutes within the opening spherical.
With one other seeded opponent now out of his means, Srikanth will look to construct on his spectacular begin as he targets a deep run within the Tremendous 750 occasion.
Printed on Sep 03, 2026
