The London Olympics bronze medallist and World No. 5, who had inflammation on her right knee, lost 18-21, 19-21to World No. 61Maria in a match that lasted 39 minutes.
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India at Rio Olympics: Shuttler Kidambi Srikanth today entered quarter-finals of the Olympic Games by beating Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen keeping India’s medal hope alive in the Olympiad.
In Group M women’s singles, Sindhu, however, managed to eke out a 19-21 21-15 21-17 win over Glasgow Commonwealth Games champion Li Michelle in a gruelling 72-minute match.
Dipa’s superb show in a sport that is not popular in the country lit up the gloomy day which started with the the exit of London Games bronze medal victor Saina to further dampen the spirits of the contingent on the ninth day of competitions.
There was no reprieve from Kidambi who sealed the first game before Jorgensen soared to 17-14 lead in the second.
In a battle between equals, Jorgensen moved to a 3-1 lead before Srikanth turned the tables reaching 4-3.
The 27-year-old from the drought-prone Satara district in Maharashtra had become the second Indian woman after Usha in 1984 Los Angeles to qualify for a final at a track event at quadrennial extravaganza. The world number 5, Jorgensen gave Srikanth a tough fight with both scoring same points in the two rounds, respectiverly.
Saina, who was carrying a knee injury into the quadrennial sports spectacle, lost 18-21 19-21 to lower ranked rival Maria Ulitina from Ukraine to make a shock exit.
Srikanth’s performance was diametrically opposite to Saina’s. But, Srikanth drew par at 17-17 with some classy smashes and took a 20-18 lead.
The Denmark shuttler also came up with some spectacular smashes and some brilliant net play to make it 10-9. The Indian had no problem in dealing with Henri and took just 13 minutes to wrap up the game.
In the last few points, there was stiff competition but Srikanth overpowered his opponent to clinch the issue comfortably.
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But Sindhu showed tremendous fighting spirit as she equalised 1-1 with a 21-15 win in the second game. In the end, it was two long shots from Henri which helped Srikanth seal the issue in his favour and reach the pre-quarterfinals.
