Lucknow: Former champion Kidambi Srikanth and Sourabh Verma advanced to the quarterfinals but young Lakshya Sen bowed out of the men's singles contest at the Syed Modi International Badminton tournament here on Thursday.
Third seed Srikanth, who had lifted the title in 2016, eked out a thrilling 18-21 22-20 21-16 win over compatriot Parupalli Kashyap, who is also a former two-time champion here.
Sourabh, a winner at two Super 100 events in Hyderabad and Vietnam this year, defeated fellow Indian Alap Mishra 21-11 21-18 to set up a clash with Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who accounted for World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth 21-11 21-17 in another round two match.
In women's singles, Shruti Mundada and Rituparna Das entered the quarterfinals with straight game wins.
While Shruti beat Belgium's Lianne Tan 21-18 21-14, Rituparna defeated Tanvi Lad 21-16 21-13 to set up an all-Indian face-off.
Young women's pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker also progressed to the final eight after beating compatriots Riya Mookerjee and Anura Prabhudesai 21-12 21-15 in 33 minutes.
Lakshya, 18, who has been on a roll with title wins at Belgian International, Dutch Open, SaarLorLux Open and Scottish Open last week, couldn't produce his best and went down 14-21 17-21 to the experienced Son Wan Ho, a former world no 1.
