BWF World Championships: Kidambi Srikanth advances to third round
File photo of Indian badminton player Kidambi Srikanth. Photograph:( AFP )
Indian star Kidambi Srikanth on Wednesday defeated Spain's Pablo Abian to enter the third round of the men's singles category at the Badminton World Championships.
The fifth-seeded Indian took over an hour to clinch a 21-15, 12-21, 21-14 victory over his unseeded opponent.
The first game was a closely fought battle before Srikanth clinched four back-to-back points to reach game point at 20-13.
Although the Spaniard managed to reduce the deficit, it was not enough to prevent the Indian from taking the opening game.
Abian made a strong comeback in the second game. He went into the break with a narrow 11-10 lead and took the game away from Srikanth immediately after the restart with an incredible run of seven consecutive points.
Exciting @Pablo_Abian Save and smash vs. Kidambi #TOTALBADMINTON #TOTALBWFWC2018 pic.twitter.com/IPquBkao2h
— BWF (@bwfmedia) August 1, 2018
The third and decisive game was also a neck-and-neck fight, but Srikanth managed to cinch the game.
In the next round, Srikanth will face another unseeded opponent American Daren Liew.
The American defeated Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-16, 21-16 in the second round.
