Srikanth eases into pre-quarters of World Badminton C'ships

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth produced a rich vein of form as he crushed Lucas Corvee of France in straight games to storm into the third round of the World Badminton Championships here on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old, who clinched two successive titles at Indonesia and Australia and reached the finals at Singapore Open, swept aside Corvee 21-9, 21-17 in a one-sided clash that lasted just few minutes more than half an hour.

Srikanth, who is seeded eighth in the tournament, will now lock horns with Anders Antonsen of Denmark for a place in the quarter-finals.

It should be noted that India has never won any medal in the men's category at the World Championships.

Elsewhere, India's Tanvi Lad suffered a major blow as she knocked out of the tournament after going down in straight games against second seed Sung Ji Hyun in the women's singles event.

Tanvi slumped to a crushing 9-21, 19-21 defeat at the hands of her Korean opponent in a second-round encounter that lasted 33 minutes.