Tough break: Srikanth to face two-time Olympic champion in quarters

India's Badminton champs Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu keeps India’s medal hopes alive after qualifying for the quarter-finals at the Rio Olympics in their respective singles event.

World No. 11 Srikanth, who had a 1-2 head to head record against World No. 5 Jan Jorgensen, thrashed his opponent 21-19, 21-19 in 42 minutes on Monday.

During the first set, the Danish shuttler was ahead with a 3-1 lead before Srikanth turned tables around to a 4-3 lead in his favour. The two showed equal aggression and supremacy before Srikanth earned a break and advantage of 11-9.

At 18-17, the two were embroiled in a vigorous rally which that the ace Indian finally broke. Srikanth clinched the game point with a cross court smash that Jorgensen could not reach.

Srikanth continued his momentum into the second game and dictated the tempo of the fast-paced rallies to reach 8-4 at one stage. The Indian, however, lost a few points when his backhand returns landed on the net.

However, the Denmark shuttler made a superb comeback and led 17-14 at one point. Srikanth refused to give up and that determination clawed him back to level the second set at 18-18.

Srikanth produced a sharp smash to win the match point. He left the shuttle once again at the baseline before coming up with another smash to seal his place in the quarterfinals.

He became the second Indian badminton player to reach the men’s singles quarter-final event at the Olympics after Parupalli Kashyap at the 2012 Games.

Srikanth has a huge task ahead as he is set to face two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan on Wednesday.

• Rio Olympics 2016
• Rio 2016
• India at Olympics
• Srikanth Kidambi