Kidambi Srikanth made the quarterfinals for the first time in seven months but it was curtains for fellow Indian HS Prannoy at the USD 400,000 Hong Kong Open on Thursday.
Former world no.1 Srikanth, who slipped to the 13th spot in the latest BWF rankings this week, notched up a 21-11 15-21 21-19 win over compatriot Sourabh Verma in the men’s singles second round.
Srikanth had last reached the quarterfinals at the Singapore Open in April.
The Guntur shuttler, who received a first-round bye from world no.1 Kento Momota of Japan, will face Olympic champion Chen Long of China next.
Earlier, H S Prannoy suffered a 12-21 19-21 loss to sixth seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie in the second round.
World champion P V Sindhu will take on Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, while Parupalli Kashyap will fight it out against second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei later in the day.