India's Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy crash out in quarter-finals of Japan Open; mixed doubles pair of Pranaav-Sikki advance to semi-finals
India's Kidambi Srikanth reacts after conceding a point against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen during the Japan Open quarter-final in Tokyo yesterday. Srikanth lost 17-21, 17-21. Pic /AFP
India's Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open Super Series after losing to recently-crown world champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark but mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy advanced to the semi-finals, here yesterday.
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Srikanth, 25, who clinched back-to-back titles at Indonesia and Australia, couldn't curb his simple errors to go down 17-21, 17-21 to World No. 2 and third seed Axelsen in a men's singles quarter-final contest that lasted 40 minutes.
With this victory, Axelsen enjoys a 3-2 head-to-head lead over Srikanth in five meetings, having won the last three duels.
HS Prannoy too suffered a 15-21,14-21 loss to China's second seed Shi Yuqi to crash out in the last-eight stage. But Syed Modi champions Pranaav and Sikki kept India's flag fluttering, defeating Korea's Seung Jae Seo and Kim Ha Na 21-18, 9-21, 21-19 to set up a clash with Japan's Takuro Hoki and Sayaka Hirota in the next round.
Too many errors
Srikanth made too many errors and squandered 16-13 and 9-6 advantages in the first and second games respectively. Axelsen, on the other hand, showed great agility and used his smashes to good use to outwit the Indian. In the opening game, Axelsen opened up a 4-1 lead early on. Srikanth clawed back at 4-4 before grabbing the lead but the Dane managed to turn the tables to reach 8-6 when his opponent made a judgement error at baseline, found the net and then hit long.
A dejected HSâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Prannoy
Srikanth drew parity with the Dane who committed a few unforced errors but held the 11-10 advantage at the break when the Indian found the net again. The Indian was tight at the net but he struggled with the length as the Dane once again levelled at 16-16. Axelsen won a video referral and then showed good athleticism to won a couple of points before unleashing a jump cross court smash to seal the opening game.
Brilliant Dane
In the second game, Srikanth played some good rallies, varying the pace and managed to lead 5-4. The Dane produced some brilliant cross court smashes to lead 18-14. Srikanth won two points with one of the returns kissing the net. Axelsen soon unleashed another jump smash to move to three match points and sealed it when he drew Srikanth at net and then pushed the shuttle away from him with a back hand return.
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