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Rio 2016: Shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth qualify for quarterfinals

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:47 IST

Remaining Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth continued their Rio Olympics campaign as both comfortably cruised past their opponents to qualify for the quarterfinals. PV Sindhu, a two-time World Championship bronze-medallist beat Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in straights sets 21-13, 21-15 to advance to the women's singles quarterfinals. Srikanth had a slightly tougher opponent in world No. 5 Jan O Jorgensen, but came out relatively unscathed with a straight sets (21-19, 21-19) victory.

Coming into the match with a 1-2 head-to-head record, Srikanth dished out an aggressive performance to defeat Jorgensen 21-19, 21-19 in a 42-minute battle to keep himself in contention for a medal. He now joins Parupalli Kashyap as the only Indian men's singles players to reach the quaterfinals of the Olympics. The 23-year-old Guntur lad, ranked 11th in the world, will next take on two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan - a shuttler he has beaten before - on Tuesday, 16 August.

In the women's singles, Sindhu, the 21-year-old from Hyderabad, outclassed eighth-seed Tai 21-13, 21-15 in a 40-minute pre-quarterfinals clash. She will next take on Wang Yihan of China.

"It's a good win also in the morning Srikanth has won, so it's a great moment on the Independence Day. I wish we will give our best tomorrow," Sindhu told PTI.

Yihan is a London 2012 Olympics silver medalist and 2011 World Championship champion and also a winner of the Asian Games gold medalist in Incheon 2014.

"It will be tough, not easy. I have to give my best. I will discuss the strategy with my coach. I've played against her long ago, but it's been a long gap," Sindhu continued. "Even I feel she's also playing well nowadays, it won't be easy. It will depend on the strategy on that particular day. Sometime you may play fantastically and on the other hand it may not go your way. It all depends on the given day".

- With inputs from PTI

First published: 16 August 2016, 5:41 IST