Hylo Open: Kidambi Srikanth ousts Jonatan Christie, storms into SFs

India's ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth staged an upset at the Hylo Open 2022 BWF Super 300 by defeating seventh-ranked Jonatan Christie in straight sets in Saarbrucken, Germany, on Friday.

The former World No 1 got off to a terrific start by scoring nine of the final 11 points to win the first game against the seventh-ranked Indonesian. The Indian shuttler won the match 21-13, 21-19 in 39 minutes despite a late charge in the second game from the 2018 Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie.

The fifth-seeded Anthony Ginting of Indonesia will face Kidambi Srikanth in the semifinal match. Ginting has prevailed over Srikanth in three of their previous five encounters, most recently in March at the All-England Open.

In the women's doubles quarterfinals earlier in the day, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand defeated Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ya Ching and Lin Wan Ching 21-17, 18-21, 21-8.

The eighth-seeded Thai team of Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard will compete against the Indian team that won the bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who are now ranked eighth in the world, lost their men's doubles quarterfinal match to England's seventh-seeded team of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy. The Indian badminton team lost 21-17, 21-14, and was eliminated from the competition.

Malvika Bansod ranked 39th in the world, fell to Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, ranked 21st, in the women's singles quarterfinals in 33 minutes after shocking Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the pre-quarterfinals.

( With inputs from ANI )