Syed Modi GPG: Srikanth, Kashyap storm into quarters; Sindhu knocked out

Top seed Kidambi Srikanth exacted a sweet revenge victory over Iskandar Zainuddin, who had beaten him in the semi-final of the Malaysia Masters in Penang last week, to move into the quarter-final. The World No.9, who struggled against the Malaysian’s aggressive play last week, dominated the match from start to finish this time around giving Iskandar no chance for another upset. In fact, the Indian ace finished the match 21-9, 21-12 in 32 minutes to make an emphatic statement on the way to the quarters. Srikanth will face another Malaysian Goh Soon Huat in the quarter-final on Friday.

Third seed Parupalli Kashyap also followed his compatriot into the quarter-final registering a comfortable victory over unseeded Chinese player Zhu Siyuan. The Indian, who moved up a place to 14th in the latest BWF rankings, looked in good touch with a straight games victory over his opponent. After winning the first game 21-19, Kashyap upped his game in the second and won it 21-10 to finish off the match in 40 minutes. Kashyap will next face Huang Yuxiang from China in the quarter-final on Friday.

Youngster Harsheel Dani became the third Indian to enter the Men’s Singles quarter-final after registering an upset victory over seventh seed Lee Dong-keun. Harsheel, ranked 178th in the world stunned the World No. 22 by coasting to a straight games victory with a score of 21-15, 21-10.

However, in the Women’s Singles, PV Sindhu, who moved up one place to 11th in the latest BWF rankings after winning the title at the Malaysia Masters last week, suffered a shock loss on Thursday losing to unseeded Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand. Sindhu, who had defeated Riya Mukherjee in the opening round yesterday, looked lost in the match against World No.27 Jindapol.

After winning the first game 21-18, the Indian wasted five match points in the second allowing Jindapol a chance to comeback into the match. The Thai shuttler took the second game 26-24 and raced away to the win the third game 21-17 leaving Sindhu frustrated.

In Women’s Doubles, sixth seeds Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also confirmed their place in the quarter-final defeating qualifiers Harika Veludurthi and Ningshi Block Hazarika 21-9, 21-10.

In the Men’s Doubles, the unseeded pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar stunned the fifth-seeded pair of Ricky Karanda Suwardi and Angga Pratama from Indonesia 21-13, 21-14 to enter the quarter-final.