Kidambi Srikanth loses must-win match to bow out; Sindhu goes down to Chochuwong at World Tour Finals

Kidambi Srikanth failed to rise to the occasion at the BWF World Tour Finals in Bali on Friday. In a must-win match, Kidambi Srikanth went down against Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia and crashed out of the season-ending tournament.

Srikanth needed to win their third and final league match in Group B to stay in contention for a place in the semifinals.

However, world No. 14 Srikanth lost to second seed Lee Zii Jia 19-21, 14-21. The world No. 8 Malaysian shattered the hopes of Srikanth with a win in 37 minutes.

Second straight win for Lee Zii Jia against Srikanth

It was the second win in succession for Lee Zii Jia in as many months. In their first meeting at the Hylo Open 2021 last month, reigning All England men’s singles champion Lee Zii Jia defeated Srikanth 21-19, 22-20. In both matches, Lee Zii Jia emerged winner after a tense battle.

Sindhu loses to Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in final league match

Reigning world champion PV Sindhu went down in her third and final Group A outing in the women’s singles and missed the chance to top the group.

Top seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand edged past double Olympic medalists 21-12, 19-21, 21-14 in a marathon encounter that lasted an hour and 11 minutes.

With the win, world No. 10 Thai player has topped Group A. Both Chochuwong and Sindhu have already qualified for the knockouts.

Consolation win for Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy

India’s women's doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy registered a consolation win in their third league outing. Ashwini and Sikki thumped British duo Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith in a hard-fought three-game encounter.

Playing perhaps their best in recent times, Ashwini and Sikki notched up a brilliant 21-19, 9-21, 21-14 win in 64 minutes.

Ashwini and Sikki proved a touch unlucky to lose their Thursday match. Had they won against the Bulgarian pair in their second group outing, they would have qualified for the semis.

Semifinals will be played on Saturday, while the finals will take place on Sunday. Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu will compete in the semifinals on Saturday.

Lakshya Sen (2nd from L) and PV Sindhu (3rd from L) with Park Tae Sang and DK Sen (R)

Indian Results (Round 3)

Men’s singles

Group B: Kidambi Srikanth lost to 2-Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia) 19-21, 14-21 (37 minutes)

Group A: Lakshya Sen gets a walkover from Rasmus Gemke (Denmark)

Women’s singles

Group A: PV Sindhu lost to 1-Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand) 12-21, 21-19, 14-21 (71 minutes)

Women’s doubles

Group B: Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy bt Chloe Birch-Lauren Smith (England) 21-19, 9-21, 21-14 (64 minutes)

Men's doubles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty gave a walkover to Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin (Chinese Taipei).