Srikanth eases into quarter-final of World Badminton C'ships

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth booked his place in the quarter-finals of the 2017 World Badminton Championships after thrashing Anders Antonsen of Denmark in straight games here on Thursday.

The 24-year-old, who clinched two successive titles at Indonesia and Australia and reached the finals at Singapore Open, produced a rich vein of form to sweep aside 14th seed Antosen 21-14, 21-18 in a one-sided third-round clash that lasted 42 minutes.

Srikanth, who is seeded eighth in the ongoing tournament, will now cross swords with either top-seed Son Wan Ho of Korea or 11th seed Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand for a place in the semi-finals.

In mixed doubles' event, Indian duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy suffered a major blow as they knocked out of the tournament after going down against Indonesian pair of Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto in the third round.

After winning the first game, Pranaav and Reddy failed to capitalize on the same and slumped to a 20-22, 21-18, 21-18 defeat against Jordan and Susanto in a thrilling clash that lasted more than one hour.

Meanwhile, B. Sai Praneeth, PV Sindhu, Ajay Jayaram and Saina Nehwal will also aim to cement their spot in last-eight when they play their respective third rounds.