New Delhi, 03 September (H.S.): India’s experienced badminton player Kidambi Srikanth pulled off a major upset on Thursday, defeating world No. 9 Victor Lai in straight games to book his place in the quarter-finals of the China Masters 2026.

The former world No. 1 overcame Canada’s Lai 21-18, 21-19 in the BWF Super 750 tournament.

Srikanth produced a composed and effective performance in the contest, which lasted less than an hour. He remained patient at crucial moments in both games and did not allow the world No. 9 to make a comeback.

Lai had been in impressive form in recent days. He had defeated India’s Lakshya Sen in the opening round of the China Masters and had earlier won a bronze medal at the BWF World Championships. Despite Lai’s strong run, Srikanth gave him little opportunity to impose himself on the match.

Srikanth had also made a confident start to the tournament. In the opening round, he defeated Chinese Taipei’s world No. 21 Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-15 in just 35 minutes.

In the quarter-finals, Srikanth will face Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong, China. Lee secured his place in the last eight after defeating world No. 9 Toma Popov in the round of 16.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar