Kidambi Srikanth defeated Mark Calijouw to get into the semi-finals
Former world number one Indian thrashed the Dutch shuttler Mark Caljouw by 21-8, 21-7 in a contest that lasted for just 26 minutes. With this win, Kidambi Srikanth confirmed India's first medal at the 2021 World Championships and also his first-ever World Championships podium. This is also India’s third medal at the Worlds in men’s single.
The Indian raced to an 11-5 lead by the first mid-game interval. The Indian badminton player, who was looking sharp throughout the match, closed the first game at 21-8.
Caljouw tried to dig deep in the second game. However, Srikanth maintained his dominance to finish the contest by pocketing the game 21-7. Earlier in the day, the defending champion PV Sindhu crashed out of the tournament after suffering a straight-game defeat against Tai Tzu Ying in the quarter-finals.
Tai Tzu Ying defeated the shuttler from India 21-17, 21-13 in a clash that lasted 42 minutes to cruise into the semi-finals.
This was the 20th meeting between Sindhu and TTY. The shuttler from Chinese Taipei now has a 15-5 advantage against the two-time Olympic medallist Indian.
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy also lost in the quarter-finals of the ongoing BWF World Championship in Huelva.
Battling at Court 1, Prannoy lost against Singapore's Loh Kean Yew in straight sets 21-14, 21-12, in a match that lasted for 43 minutes.
Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen defeated Zhao Jun Peng in a thriller on Friday to cruise into the semi-finals. Battling at court 2, the Indian went past the Chinese shuttler by 21-15, 15-21, and 22-20 in a titanic one hour and seven minutes clash.
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