Rio Olympics 2016 Badminton Highlights: Kidambi Srikanth Goes Down Fighting vs Lin Dan
Kidambi Srikanth fought valiantly but bowed out of the quarter-finals of the Rio 2016 Olympics by losing a tough match to China's Lin Dan. Relive all the moments of the match between Kidambi Srikanth vs Lin Dan here.
Kidambi Srikanth bounced back in magnificent style after losing the first game 6-21 against China's Lin Dan. He produced some wonderful performances in the second game as he leveled the match by winning the second game 21-11. The Indian put up a great fight in the third game but came up short as Lin won the third game to enter the semi-final.. (MEDAL TALLY | SCHEDULE)
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19:03 hrs IST: Kidambi goes down fighting 21-18 in the final game. The third game lasted 29 minutes. Lin Dan wins the final rally of a magnificent quarterfinal
19:01 hrs IST: Lin Dan leads 19-17. Srikanth is not giving up easily
18:59 hrs IST: Srikanth not giving up. A smashing return gives him a point 16-17
18:58 hrs IST: Lin Dan still leads after a rally. He leads 17-15
18:57 hrs IST: A bad return by Srikanth gives Lin Dan a 16-14 lead. This could be the turning point of the match
18:55 hrs IST: Lin Dan catches up with Srikanth. A return is just long by a few millimeters. It's 14-14 now
18:52 hrs IST: An error at the net gives Srikanth a 13-10 lead
18:50 hrs IST: Srikanth leads 12-9. Lin Dan is hanging in there.
18:48 hrs IST: Srikanth leads 11-8 at the changeover. What a comeback by the Indian. Lin Dan is a worried man for sure
18:47 hrs IST: Lin Dan pushes his return long and Srikanth steals the lead 10-8
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18:44 hrs IST: Srikanth is controlling the pace of the game. It's 7-7.
18:43 hrs IST: Srikanth levels 6-6. Superb net play keeps Lin Dan busy. The Chinese is under pressure in the final game
18:39 hrs IST: Lin Dan wins a fabulous rally, leads 5-3
18:38 hrs IST: Lin Dan leads 4-2, but Srikanth is playing his aggressive game
18:36 hrs IST: Srikanth must cut down on errors at this stage
18:35 hrs IST: Srikanth continues to play well in the deciding third game. But Lin Dan has a 3-1 lead
18:32 hrs IST: Srikanth wins 21-11. It's one game all and Lin Dan is under pressure. Super comeback by the Indian shuttler.
18:31 hrs IST: Srikanth leads 18-10. He is really looking good in this game
18:28 hrs IST: Srikanth goes ahead 15-8. He has pinned Lin Dan to the back court and winning rallies. This has been a good comeback by the Indian shuttler.
18:27 hrs IST: Srikanth leads 13-7. Lin Dan wants to slow down the pace of the game.
18:24 hrs IST: Srikanth has a six-point advantage 11-5. What a transformation by the Indian. He needs to hold on to this tempo
18:23 hrs IST: This is becoming a good contest. Srikanth is more aggressive in this game. Good mix of defensive strokes has given him a 9-5 lead
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18:20 hrs IST: Lot of Indian support for Srikanth. Lot of Indiaaa Jitega, Indiaaa jitega chants
18:19 hrs IST: Srikanth looks more assured in game No. 2. Lin Dan is making errors. Srikanth leads 6-2
18:16 hrs IST: Srikanth takes 3-0 lead in the second game. Winning a long rally will give the Indian more confidence
18:12 hrs IST: Lin Dan takes the first game 21-6 in just 16 minutes. Just too many errors by the Indian player. He is clearly overawed by the occasion as coach Gopichand watches helplessly from the sidelines
18:10 hrs IST: Srikanth wins the service back and wins a point with a top smash (6-17). But the Chinese wins it back to make it 19-6
18:08 hrs IST: A lot of returns are either wide or long. Srikanth is giving away a lot of free points. Lin Dan leads 16-4.
18:05 hrs IST: Srikanth wins two points but Lin Dan is just getting stronger and stronger. Leads 14-3.
18:03 hrs IST: Lin Dan has a 11-1 lead in just seven minutes. Srikanth has not been able to find his feet on court.
18:01 hrs IST: Lin Dan's lead swells to 10-1. The Chinese is winning a lot of points on the errors the Indian is making.
17:58 hrs IST: Lin Dan surges to an early 5-1 lead. Srikanth is making a lot of errors with his net play.
17:55 hrs IST: Lin Dan has won three titles in 2016, including the All-England Championships. Srikanth will serve first.
17:53 hrs IST: Players arrive on court. Srikanth is wearing all black today. Left-handed Lin Dan is in traditional red
17:47 hrs IST: Wei was in stunning form. A classic display of smashes and net play has proved his class once more. Next up will be Srikanth vs Lin Dan.
17:46 hrs IST: Top seed Lee Chong Wei enters semis with a 21-9, 21-15 victory. The match lasted just 41 minutes. He will face the winner of the match between Lin Dan and Srikanth
17:41 hrs IST: Wei leads 18-13. This game has not been one-sided like the first one.
17:37 hrs IST: Lee Chong Wei continues to keep the lead against his Chinese Taipei opponent. The Malaysian leads 15-11 in the second game
17:33 hrs IST: The winner of Srikanth vs Lin Dan match will face the winner of the Wei vs Chou encounter
17:32 hrs IST: Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei looks good to enter the semis. He beat Chou Tien 21-9 in the first game and is leading 12-6 in the second.
17:28 hrs IST: Lin Dan and Kidambi Srikanth have faced off three times, with the Chinese ace winning twice and Kidambi once. However, this is Lin's first match in Rio 2016, having gotten a bye in the first round.
17:25 hrs IST: A warm welcome to the match between India's Kidambi Srikanth and China's Lin Dan. After the efforts of PV Sindhu, it is the turn of Srikanth to give India some more joy but it will not be easy against Dan, who is the current Olympic champion
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Srikanth can create history for Indian badminton at RioCentro Pavilion today. If he upsets Lin Dan, he will not only come within a win of an Olympic medal but become the first man to cross the quarterfinal stage at the Summer Games. The match starts at 5:50 PM IST.
Parupalli Kashyap was the first man to enter the quarterfinal stage of an Olympics. He did that in London four years ago. He lost to top seed Lee Chong Wei.
Srikanth has been in good form in Rio but world No. 3 Lin Dan will be keen to retain the title that he won in London 2012.
World No. 11 Srikanth will back himself against the Chinese giant. He has a 1-2 win-loss record against Lin Dan. Srikanth had beaten Lin Dan in the China Open in 2014. He had won 21-19, 21-17.
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Both times Lin Dan have beaten Srikanth (Badminton Asia Championship in 2014 and Thailand Open 2012), the winning margins have been very emphatic. But today, it's going to be a new day for both players.
Seeded ninth in the Olympics, Srikanth defeated Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen 21-19, 21-19 in the pre-quarterfinals. Srikanth's clever net play won him several big points.
Lin Dan will be playing his first match in the Games. The third seed got a bye in the first round (pre-quarters). Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) and Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei will contest the other quarterfinal in Srikanth-Lin Dan half of the draw.