Badminton sensation Srikanth is a win away from round of 16

India's highest-ranked men's badminton player Kidambi Srikanth 'shuttled' past Mexican Lino Munoz in straight sets, 21-11, 21-17 in the men's singles, Group H opener at the Rio Olympics 2016.

Srikanth, who is India's only male shuttler in the singles event, sealed the match in 41 minutes.

Munoz failed to put up a fight initially and easily allowed the Indian to beat him in the first set. However, the World No. 85 reciprocated with a strong comeback in the second set. When Srikanth led 6-2, his opponent drew level before the former once again regained the lead with 8-6.

When the match intensified at 13-all, Srikanth's game turned sloppy and that gave the Mexican a chance to lead at 16-13 in the second set.

Though Srikanth levelled the scores at 16, he struggled to clear the mid-courts and that helped Munoz zip ahead again with a score of 17-16.

The 2014 Chinese Open winner reclaimed his lead with a superb smash to the forehand side of his rival. He came up with successive crosscourt hits and smashed to lead at 19-17, this was followed by a netted shot by his rival giving Srikanth four match points.

There was no looking back from there for Srikanth, whose dominance did not let the Mexican revive his game from that position. He earned the game point with an excellent a push to the backcourt, beating Munroz at a no man's land.

Srikanth's last Group H fixture is on August 14 and is against Sweden's Henri Hurskainen. A win in that match will secure his berth in the Round of 16.

• Rio 2016 Olympics
• Rio 2016
• india at olympics
• Srikanth Kidambi