Hong Kong Open: Kidambi Srikanth defeats Chen Long in the quarterfinals

Kidambi Srikanth moved into the semi-finals of Super 500 Hong Kong Open after defeating Chen Long in the quarters.

It was great news for Indian badminton fans as Srikanth played with confidence in the first game. Srikanth showed his dominance and caught Chen Long napping right from word go. At the interval, the Indian led 11-4. After the interval, Srikanth continued to dominate the Chinese and won the first set easily 21-13. 

Before the start of the second game, Chen Long had to retire hurt due to an injury. Srikanth moved into the semi-finals where he will face of Lee Chik Yu of Hong Kong. It has been a good performance by the Indian who played with confidence against the Chinese and made sure that to not allow Chen an inch.

This was Srikanth's second victory over Chen Long. His last win over the Chinese was in the 2017 Australian Open. 

With this win, Srikanth will play his first semi-finals since March of this year. He played in the finals of the Indian Open Super 500 event. It will do a lot of good for him as he has been struggling for form right through the year. 

Chen Long and Srikanth faced each other in the Malaysia Open in April where the Chinese defeated the Indian in two straight games. 

Jonathan Christie will take on his counterpart Anthony Ginting in the other semi-finals. As far as women’s singles are concerned, Zheng Biewen and Chen Yufei will face off in the first semi-finals while Ratchnok Intanon will face Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in other semi-finals. 

The biggest surprise of the day was in men’s doubles as Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamujlio lost to Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe in three sets to be knocked out in the quarterfinals. Endo and Watanabe will face Choi Sol-gyu and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea. In the second semi-finals, Li Yunhui and Liu Yunchen will take on Mohammad Ashan and Hendra Setiwan. 

Cover image credits: India Today