India’s Kidambi Srikanth progressed through to the Round of 16 stage of the 2016 Rio Olympics after a fine win over Henri Hurskainen of Sweden on Sunday. The 23-year-old shuttler, competing in his maiden Olympics, won his opening match against Lino Munoz in straight games as well and now finds himself in the next round.
His opponent at that stage will be Jan O Jorgensen from Denmark, who topped Group G after winning both his matches in convincing fashion, to set up a clash with the Indian World No.12.
In the two matches that Srikanth has played so far, he has looked good, particularly in his smash, which has proven to be very profitable for him and he will look to that shot again to gather most of his points on Monday.
If there is an area where he will have to focus on and improve ahead of the match, it is the near the net. Srikanth’s underarm defensive stroke is something that could cause him some trouble if the lift doesn’t work in favour and chief coach Pullela Gopichand will ensure that his ward doesn’t lose out on points in that area.
His opponent, Jan O Jorgensen clinched the bronze medal at the World Championships last year and was part of the squad that won the Thomas Cup earlier this year. In three previous meetings with Srikanth, Jorgensen has defeated him twice, with the only defeat coming at the India Open in 2013.
Incidentally, all three matches involving these two has ended up going into the deciding game and if for a fourth time, it does happen then we would have witnessed a thrilling contest in Rio.
The winner of this match will set up a quarterfinal clash against Lin Dan of China, who has got a bye in his Round of 16 match.
Matchup: Kidambi Srikanth vs Jan O Jorgensen
Time: 5:30 P.M IST
TV details: Star Sports network, hotstar.com and DD National.
