Srikanth bows out of badminton worlds

TOKYO: India’s Commonwealth Games badminton bronze medallist Kidambi Srikanth was stunned by unseeded Zhao Junpeng in the second round of the world championships in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Number 12 seed Srikanth, the silver medallist at last year’s world championships, lost 21-9, 21-17 to China’s Zhao, his second-game comeback falling away at the finish.

Srikanth, part of India’s Thomas Cup-winning team in May, said he “could have maybe played better” but was not as clinical as his opponent.

“He just played well when it really mattered,” said the former world number one. “I had my chances in the second set and if I could have won it, anything could have happened in the third set.

“It’s just about winning the points when it really matters and I think he played really well in the closing stages of the second set,” the 29-year-old added.