Srikanth Stuns World No. 9 Victor Lai to Storm into China Masters Quarter-finals
New Delhi, September 03, 2026 Kidambi Srikanth continued his impressive resurgence at the China Masters Super 750, producing a major upset to reach the men’s singles quarter-finals on Thursday. The former world No. 1 overcame world No. 9 and Canadian star Victor Lai in straight games, underlining his strong form at the prestigious tournament in Shenzhen. Srikanth, the silver medallist at the 2021 World Championships, defeated Lai 21-18, 21-19 at the Shenzhen Arena. Lai had entered the contest with a strong international record, having won bronze medals at the previous two BWF World Championships. Srikanth had also begun his campaign confidently, beating Chinese Taipei’s world No. 21 Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-15 in just 35 minutes in the opening round. The Indian shuttler will now face Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu for a place in the semi-finals. Lee booked his quarter-final spot after defeating world No. 9 Toma Popov in the Round of 16. Earlier in the tournament, Lai had eliminated Lakshya Sen in the Round of 32 before setting up his clash against Srikanth. This marks Srikanth’s second quarter-final appearance of the season after he finished runner-up at the US Open in June. India, however, suffered setbacks in other events. Tanvi Sharma was knocked out of the women’s singles after losing 17-21, 21-18, 16-21 to Tomoka Miyazaki, bringing India’s women’s singles campaign to an end. In mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also exited after losing to Chinese Taipei’s Liu Kuang Heng and Hsu Yin-Hui. Earlier, Devika Sihag had bowed out after a 21-18, 21-15 defeat against Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova, while Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde lost 21-16, 21-18 to Chinese Taipei’s Wu Guan Xun and Lee Chia Hsin. Meanwhile, India’s leading men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty remain in contention and are scheduled to face France’s Cristo Popov and Toma Junior Popov later in the day. The world No. 5 Indian pair opened their campaign with a convincing 21-11, 21-16 victory over Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Kang Khai Xing in 40 minutes. With Srikanth’s upset victory providing a major boost, India will now look to carry the momentum forward in the remaining matches at the China Masters.
