Syed Modi: Srikanth, Sourabh enter quarters, Lakshya loses

Kidambi Srikanth

Former champion Kidambi Srikanth and Sourabh Verma advanced to the quarterfinals but young Lakshya Sen bowed out of the men's singles contest at the Syed Modi International Badminton tournament here on Thursday. Third seed Srikanth, who had lifted the title in 2016, eked out a thrilling 18-21 22-20 21-16 win over compatriot Parupalli Kashyap, who is also a former two-time champion here.

The world no 12 Indian will next square off against seventh seed Son Wan Ho of Korea in the Super 300 tournament. Sourabh, a winner at two Super 100 events in Hyderabad and Vietnam this year, defeated fellow Indian Alap Mishra 21-11 21-18 to set up a clash with Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who accounted for World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth 21-11 21-17 in another round two match. In women's singles, Shruti Mundada and Rituparna Das entered the quarterfinals with straight game wins. While Shruti beat Belgium's Lianne Tan 21-18 21-14, Rituparna defeated Tanvi Lad 21-16 21-13 to set up an all-Indian face-off. Young women's pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker also progressed to the final eight after beating compatriots Riya Mookerjee and Anura Prabhudesai 21-12 21-15 in 33 minutes.

Simran and Ritika, who won the Senior Inter-District State Open Championships in Latur and the All India Junior (U-19) Ranking in Tamil Nadu, will face Germany's Linda Efler and Isabel Herttrich next. Kuhoo Garg and Anoushka Parikh beat another Indian pair of Sheshadri Sanyal and Lavanya Sharma 21-13 21-6 to set up a meeting with Hong Kong's NG Wing Yung and Yeung Nga Ting. Lakshya, 18, who has been on a roll with title wins at Belgian International, Dutch Open, SaarLorLux Open and Scottish Open last week, couldn't produce his best and went down 14-21 17-21 to the experienced Son Wan Ho, a former world no 1. Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei then accounted for HS Prannoy 14-21 21-10 21-14, while Ajay Jayaram was also ousted after his gallant fight ended with a heart-breaking 18-21 21-14 28-30 loss to China's Zhao Jun Peng. It was also curtains for 19-year-old Siril Verma, a silver medalist at the 2015 World Junior Championships. He lost 9-21 22-24 to Heo Kwang Hee of Korea.

Assam's Ashmita Chaliha also couldn't get going, losing 12-21 16-21 to Korea's Kim Hyo Min. In doubles, women's pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy conceded their second-round match against English pair of Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith after the former suffered an injury. "Sad to withdraw from both my matches here at the Syed Modi Open due to an injury. When you don't listen to the signs your body gives you to rest and recover, it forces you to take a break by making sure you've got no option but to take the break. Time to heal my body!" Ashwini later tweeted. Former champions Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy also were knocked out after they lost 12-21 21-18 13-21 to Germany's Marvin Seidel and Linda Efler. Among other Indian pairs in fray, Kapil Chaudhary and Akshay Kadam, Maneesha K and Rutaparna Panda, Dhruv Kapila and Meghana Jakkampudi -- all faltered in the second round to bow out of the competition.

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