World Championships: Kidambi Srikanth Enters Pre-Quarterfinals, Beats Lucas Corvee

After Saina Nehwal brushed aside the challenge of Sabrina Jaquet in straight games and B Sai Praneeth survived a scare from Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Kidambi Srikanth steamrolled France's Lucas Corvee to keep India in the hunt for a medal at the World Championships, on Wednesday. Srikanth displayed a gritty performance as he beat Lucas Corvee of France 21-9, 21-17 to set up a clash with 14th seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark tomorrow. The 24-year-old from Guntur split the initial 10 points with Lucas, before changing gears to held a 11-6 lead. The Indian used his precise smashes to good use to accumulate points, moving to a 19-9 advantage.

He moved to game point when Lucas faltered with a return at forecourt. The French then attempted a drop which found the net as Srikanth won the first game in 12 minutes.

Srikanth brought more power to his smashes and precision to his returns to once again surge to 11-7 lead in the second game. Lucas erased the deficit and clawed back at 15-15 but the Indian soon moved ahead and sealed the issue when his rival went wide.

Earlier in the tournament, Nehwal defeated Sabrina Jaquet 21-11, 21-12 in just 33 minutes at the Emirates Arena. Saina is likely to take on second seed Sung Ji Hyun. The Indian has a 7-2 head-to-head record against the Korean and most recently beat her at the Australian Open in June.

On the other hand, Singapore Open champion Praneeth, survived a scare from 20-year-old Anthony Sinisuka Ginting to outwit the World No. 26 Indonesian 14-21, 21-18, 21-19 in a men's singles match that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.

However, India's Tanvi Lad lost to world number three Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea 9-21, 19-21.