Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Aug 15 : Indian ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth produced a perfect blend of power and precision to progress through to the quarterfinals of the men's singles event here at the Rio Olympics on Monday.
The world number 11, who is the lone Indian in fray in the men's singles, defeated Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen 21-19, 21-19 in an enthralling contest that lasted 42 minutes at Riocentro-Pavilion 4.
He will next play against Chinese great Lin Dan for a place in the semifinals on Wednesday. With the win, Srikanth has become the second Indian male player ever to reach the Olympics quarterfinals, after Parupalli Kashyap, who reached the last-eight round at the 2012 London Games.
Srikanth produced an extraordinary display of defense and banked heavily on his smash to thwart the Danish opponent.
On the other hand, PV Sindhu, the two-time bronze medallist at the World Championship, will play her round of 16 match later tonight against Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei.
India, which have sent their largest-ever contingent of 119 athletes in Rio Olympics, are yet to open their medal account in the ongoing Summer Games.
Source: ANI
