Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth continued his imperious form as he defeated Swede Henri Hurskainen 21-6, 21-18 and booked his place in Round 16.
The Guntur lad was in sparkling from right from the outset and smashed his way in the first set to seal the game 21-6. Srikanth used the court to great effect and played down the line and cross-court smashes to great effect. Hurskainen never got going and was trounced 21-6 in just over 10 minutes.
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However, the Swede came up with a much better game in the second set and gave Srikanth a decent run for his money, but the Indian held his nerve to go all the way and won the match 21-6, 21-18. Hurskainen started attacking the body of Srikanth and this change in tactics did yield results.
Both players were involved in long, aggressive rallies but the former World No.3 proved to be too good in the end and nailed his smashes to great effect. However, his net game was even more effective as he changed the flight and the pace of the shuttle with precision. This countered the aggressive game of Hurskainen, who covered the court better in the second game.
This result was needed for the Indian contingent, after the shock defeat of Saina Nehwal in the earlier game. Nehwal was shot out 18-21, 19-21 by Ukraine's Marija Ulitina in the Group G match, and thus was shunted out of the Olympics.
