Hong Kong Open: Kidambi Srikanth enters semi-finals after China's Chen Long concedes QF clash due to injury

Hong Kong: Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth entered the semifinals of the men’s singles event at the Hong Kong Open after fifth-seed Chen Long of China decided to quit the contest owing to an injury, on Friday.

Unseeded Srikanth, ranked 13th in the world, was leading by a game when Long decided to concede the match, thus handing the Indian a place in the last-four of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500 event.

Srikanth pocketed the first game 21-13 in just 15 minutes when world no 4 Long hung up his racquet to put an end to the contest.

It was Srikanth’s second career win over the Chinese shuttler. The Indian still trails Long 2-6 in head-to-head win-loss record.

The only time the two shuttlers met this year was in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open in April where Long brushed aside Srikanth’s challenge in straight games.

Srikanth’s lone victory over Long came in 2017 when he defeated the Chinese 22-20 21-16 to win the Australian Open.

Srikanth, the lone Indian in contention in the tournament, will next meet Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.