All England Championships: Kidambi Srikanth crashes out in quarters

Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the All England Championship to bring an end to the Indian challenge at the USD 1 million tournament in Birmingham on Friday. Former World Number 1 Srikanth went down 12-21, 16-21 to the current men’s World Number 1 Kento Momota.

In the first game, Momota broke off from 9-9 to grab 10 game points. Srikanth saved two before a cross court return sealed it for the Japanese.

In the second game, Momota surged ahead from 3-3 to grab a 11-4 lead at the break and then took eight match points. The Indian saved four match points before losing the match.

Earlier, Saina Nehwal bowed out in the quarter-final after losing 15-21, 19-21 to world number one Tai Tzu-Ying.

Saina is now 5-15 in head-to-head career record with Tzu-Ying and it was her 13th straight defeat against the Taiwanese, who has not lost to the Indian since 2015.

“I had my chances but I got tied up in the last two points,” said the 28-year-old from Hyderabad, a 2015 finalist. “I’m happy that I’m getting closer to the top players. I’ve not been sleeping because of the pain I’ve been having in my stomach (due to diarrhoea), but I’m really happy that I could play two matches here.”

First Published: Mar 09, 2019 08:41 IST