Hong Kong Open: Srikanth, Sameer Verma ousted in quarterfinals

Bengaluru, November 16: Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament on Friday (November 16) Both PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal too had been knocked out earlier.

Srikanth lost 17-21, 13-21 to eighth seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the men's singles event. With this loss, the former World No 1 remains without a major title win on the circuit this year and more worryingly, Srikanth is now officially out of contention to qualify for the BWF World Tour Finals.

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Meanwhile, qualifier Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong stunned Sameer Verma 21-15, 19-21, 21-11 in 73 minutes to enter his first-ever World Tour semifinals.

Earlier, Srikanth had defeated his compatriot, HS Prannoy, in an all-Indian men's singles match to enter the quarterfinals. The 25-year-old Indian shuttler, who became only the fourth men's singles player to win four Super Series titles in a year, was a shadow of himself against his Japanese opponent.

India did not fare any better in the doubles section as well. The men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy lost to Chinese Taipei pair of Lee J-h and Lee Y in two straight sets 16-21, 15-21 to get knocked out of the tournament.

In the mixed doubles, the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and RankiReddy lost to the Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Y and Hsu Y-c in two straight games 17-21, 11-21 and ousted from the event.