Srikanth, Lakshya assured of Medal

In a historic first, India was assured of at least two medals and one finalist in the men’s singles competition of the BWF World Championships after Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen entered their maiden semi-final of the marquee event here on Friday.

However, it was disappointment for defending champion PV Sindhu, who lost to Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in women’s singles quarter-finals. It would have been a massive achievement if HS Prannoy had won his last-eight duel against Kean Yew Loh of Singapore, but the former surrendered 14-21, 12-21 in 43 minutes.

India is assured of at least a silver medal as Srikanth and Lakshya will face each other in the first men’s singles semi-final on Saturday. It turned out to be a historic day for Indian badminton as Srikanth, seeded 12th in the showpiece, first sent Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands packing with a 21-8, 21-7 win in a match that lasted just 26 minutes.

The World No.14 Srikanth was ahead 11-5 at the first game’s change of ends and from 14-8, he took seven straight points to pocket the opener in a jiffy. The second game was no different as Srikanth outplayed his Dutch opponent. “I am happy to reach this stage. Coming into the tournament, I was only thinking of the first round. From there on, it was about the next match,” said Srikanth.

Later in the day, the unseeded Lakshya fought his heart out to get the better of China’s Jun Peng Zhao 21-15, 15-21, 22-20 in an enthralling three-game encounter which went on for one hour and seven minutes.

“I haven’t played Srikanth for three years. It has been a while, so it will be a good match. He is playing really well; he has beaten opponents in single digits. I am also playing well, and we both play an attacking style. Let us see who makes it to the final. I will go all out for the win,” said Lakshya after his last-8 triumph.

In women’s singles, Sindhu suffered a straight-game defeat to World No.1 Tai Tzu to bow out of the championships. The top-seeded Tai Tzu defeated Sindhu 21-17, 21-13 in an energy-sapping match that lasted 42 minutes.