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Kidambi Srikanth will aim to return to the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships when he squares off against the 27th-ranked Lu Guang Zu in Huelva, Spain, on Thursday.
For Srikanth, who has been to the pinnacle of the world rankings and has multiple Superseries titles to his credit, a World Championships medal remains a glaring miss.
His best performance at this tournament remains a quarterfinal finish that he achieved in the midst of a phenomenal 2017 season.
This time the World No. 14 would like to correct that record. With the event having witnessed a mass exodus of seeds, including the world's top two players, Viktor Axelsen and Kento Momota, Srikanth can indeed fancy his chances.
The 28-year-old has been resurgent of late after a long period of struggle with form and confidence. The fact that he made back-to-back semifinals at the SaarLorLux Open and the Indonesia Masters last month is a testament to that.
He will now hope to back up his good form with his first medal at the BWF World Championships.
The 12th seed kicked off his campaign this week with a 21-12, 21-16 demolition of World No. 53 Pablo Abian. Rising star Li Shi Feng then subjected him to a stern test but he passed it with flying colors with a 15-21, 21-18, 21-17 win.
The close win would have further boosted Srikanth's confidence level ahead of his pre-quarterfinal meeting with Lu Guang Zu. The Indian made short work of Guang Zu in their only clash so far at the 2019 India Open on his way to a 21-11, 21-16 win.
However, Srikanth cannot afford to be complacent against his giant-killing opponent. Guang Zu will be coming into this contest after having upset the three-time world junior champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-16, 21-12 in the first round.
He then went on to show the door to the fourth seed Chou Tien Chen 14-21, 21-15, 21-15.
Srikanth needs to be sharp and aggressive right from the start and not let his Chinese opponent dominate if he wants to keep his medal hopes alive.
BWF World Championships 2021: Match details
Fixture: (12) Kidambi Srikanth vs Lu Guang Zu
Head-to-head: Kidambi Srikanth leads Lu Guang Zu 1-0 in the head-to-head. The Indian beat the Chinese 21-11, 21-16 in the second round of the 2019 India Open.
Date: December 16, 2021
Time: Not before 12:30 pm local time, 5 pm IST
Tournament: TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021
Round: Round of 16
Venue: Huelva, Spain
Category: Grade 1- Individual Tournaments
BWF World Championships 2021: TV schedule
The BWF World Championships 2021 will be telecast live on the Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 2 HD TV channels in India.
BWF World Championships 2021: Live streaming details
The BWF World Championships 2021 can be live-streamed on the Disney+Hotstar app.
