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Rio Olympics 2016: Kidambi Srikanth enters quarterfinals

Srikanth, who is ranked 11 in the world, beat the World No 5 Jorgensen 21-19 21-19 to book his place in the quarterfinals.

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Though Jorgensen tried to fight back, the 23-year-old held his nerves to frustrate his fancied rival.

Coming into the match with a 1-2 head-to-head record, Srikanth dished out an aggressive performance to defeat Jorgensen 21-19 21-19 in a 42-minute battle to keep himself in contention.

Srikanth was happy to have beaten the Dane, who had won two of the last three matches between the two.

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.

World No.10 Sindhu, two-time World Championship bronze medallist, held off a strong challenge from Canadian Michelle Li. Srikanth also said that he is not anxious about his ranking but lamented that he had no time for traning as he was contesting in one event after another from PBL to ABC.

In one of the biggest upsets for the Indian Olympic contingent, Saina crashed out of the Rio Games after suffering an upset straight-game loss against lowerranked Maria Ulitina of Ukraine in her second Group G match. He then went in front in the following point, but the Indian didn’t give in so soon and kept pegging him back, taking an 11-10 lead at the break. He was, however, quick to point out that the win came “nearly two years ago”.

But the second game was an example of Srikanth’s tenacity and patience.

The Indian star, a former World No. 1, had won the opening match against Brazil’s Vicente Lohaynny on August 11.

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After few exchanges till the mid-half of the second game, the Indian shuttler showed some good skills with the combination of his diagonal shot and down the line smashes to take a 18-15 lead. Known for being good in long rallies, Sindhu mixed caution with aggression to clinch the third game 21-18 and reach the pre-quarterfinals.

India's badminton player P V Sindhu plays during the Women's Single match at the Summer Olympic 2016