Shenzhen, September 4 (Daily Kiran) : Indian badminton star Kidambi Srikanth’s run at the China Masters came to an end on September 4, 2026. He faced a tough defeat in the quarterfinals against Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu at the Shenzhen Arena.
Srikanth lost the match with scores of 16-21, 16-21, marking a disappointing exit from the tournament.
This was Srikanth’s first quarterfinal appearance in a BWF World Tour Super 750 event in three years. His elimination dashed India’s hopes for a medal in the competition. The loss against Lee marked Srikanth’s fourth consecutive defeat to the player, with his only victory dating back to the first round of the 2018 India Open.
In earlier rounds, Srikanth surprised many by defeating Canada’s world number 9 and recent bronze medalist at the World Championships, Victor Lai, with scores of 21-18, 21-19. He also secured a swift victory over Taiwan’s world number 21, Chi Yu-Jen, in just 35 minutes, winning 21-16, 21-15.
Meanwhile, the only remaining Indian challenge in the tournament is the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. They are set to face Denmark’s duo of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the semifinals.
Earlier in the tournament, India’s women’s singles campaign ended when Tanvi Sharma lost to Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki in a tightly contested match, finishing 21-17, 18-21, 21-16. Additionally, the mixed doubles team of Dhruv Kapila and Olympian Tanisha Crasto fell to Taiwan’s Liu Kuan-Heng and Su Yin-Hui in the second round, losing 21-18, 21-18.