National GP champion Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin’s journey in the Syed Modi International Badminton Championship, or better known as the Indian Open, has come to a disappointing end as he was sent packing after a third-round match with India’s Kidambi Srikanth.
Iskandar failed to replicate his splendid victory over Srikanth during the Malaysian Masters last week, where he secured an astonishing win of 27-25, 21-9 in the semi finals of the local tournament. This time round, it was Srikanth that took on a home win in the Lucknow stadium.
Iskandar, currently no.51 in the updated ranking list, was no match for ninth seed Srikanth as he was easily defeated 9-21, 12-21 within a quick 32 minutes.
The Indian powerhouse is slated to meet Malaysia’s Goh Soon Huat in the quarter finals as he successfully landed a surprising win over tenth seed Jeon Hyeok Jin. Soon Huat downed the South Korean 21-13, 21-16 to book his ticket to the last eight.
Meanwhile, national men’s doubles duo Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong also made it to the quarters after an intense match with South Koreans Ko Sunghyun and Shin Baekcheol. The two ousted the ninth seeds 21-14, 14-21, 24-22 in their third meeting.
The pair will be facing world no.6 Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov of Russia to score a chance for the semi finals today.
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