German Open Grand Prix Gold: Kidambi Srikanth loses in pre-quarterfinals

In a major heartbreak, Indian Shuttler K Srikanth lost 19-21 20-22 in a 47-minute men’s singles match against Olympic champion Chen Long of China in the pre-quarterfinals at the German Open Grand Prix Gold.

After recovering from an ankle injury Srikanth, on his comeback trail, blew 12-6 and 16-12 leads in the two games to go down against the second seed, who is also a two-time World champion and All England champion.

However, in the opening game, Srikanth had opened up a 3-0 lead early and jumped to a 12-6 healthy lead at one stage, but the opposite Chen has fought back slowly to recover his lost ground and turned the tables with a four-point burst to reach a 19-17 lead.

In second game, Chen moved ahead by scoring 9-5 but Srikanth reeled off seven straight points to grab the lead. He kept his nose ahead till 16-12 when Chen marched ahead with a six-point burst for which Srikanth had lost the game.

The Indian grabbed two points but the Chinese shuttler earned next two points to pocket the first game.

BadmintonChen LangGerman OpenGerman Open Grand Prix GoldKidambi Srikanth