As it happened - Srikanth Kidambi vs Sai Praneeth, Australian Open 2017 Quarter-finals

That was a great start to the day! We have more badminton action coming up as Saina and Sindhu take the court later in the day. Stay tuned and keep following Sportskeeda.

And with this win, Srikanth is now on an eight-match winning streak too!

And this will indeed boost his confidence further...there's no doubt about it!

This was just Srikanth's 2nd career win over Sai in 7 meetings and his first since 2014

Final Score: 25-23, 21-17 win for Srikanth Kidambi

SRIKANTH WINS!!!!!! 21-17

Sai SAVES one....17-20

And Srikanth reaches match points at 20-16

It's 17-14 now for Srikanth

And Sai once more claws back to 13-16

It's a FOUR-POINT LEAD now for Srikanth...16-12

It's 14-12 for Srikanth now

And just like that, Sai grabs a couple of points to make it 12-13

But don't count out Sai yet....remember how he made a comeback at the Singapore Open final.

And he increases it further....13-10

After the break, Sai gets a point but Sri quickly stops his momentum to extend his lead to 12-10

And Srikanth has an 11-9 advantage at half-time

Sai fights back but Sri is still ahead at 10-9

And he maintains the two-point lead...9-7

And Sri is increasing the gap between him and Sai...leads 8-6

It's 6-5 for Srikanth.

Now Sri adds 3 points to go up to 5-4

It's 4-2 now for Sai...Sri is trying to make his comeback

SECOND GAME

Sai begins well just like the last game...leads 3-0

If that was the first game, what's in store in the second we wonder!

AND SRIKANTH TAKES IT!!!!! 25-23.....WHAT A GAME THAT WAS!!!!!!!!

Game point goes to Sri...24-23

And Sai SAVES it! Are we still surprised? 23-23

Once more, it is game point for Srikanth...23-22

And Sai SAVES it! What drama!!! 22-22

Game point for Srikanth...22-21

This is SOME MATCH already!!!!!!!

Sri levels it at 21-21

Now Sai has a game point...21-20

Amazing resilience that was!!

And now it's Sai's turn to catch up! 20-20

Sai saves one! 18-20

And Srikanth reaches game points...20-17

19-17...two points lead for the Indonesia Open champion!!!

FOUR POINTS IN A ROW for Srikanth to lead 17-16! Wow!

Now Sai pulls the trigger, takes 3 points and leads 16-13

And 13-13

And it continues to be hard-fought and gritty after the break...12-12

At half-time, Sri leads 11-10

And his efforts have borne fruit! Srikanth levels at 10-10

Again Sri claws his way back....now trails 9-10

It's 10-8 for the Singapore Open champion now

Sai stops his march and takes two points in a row to lead 9-6

And Sri catches up to 6-7...can he level?

Srikanth is fighting back but Sai keeps his nose ahead at 7-5