Sai Praneeth and Ajay Jayaram were knocked out in pre-quarterfinals stage of World Badminton Championships.
India's top badminton stars PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth stood just one step away from grabbing a medal each at the World Badminton Championship after entering the quarter-finals of the singles events on Thursday.
Sindhu, who twice won a bronze medal at the 2013 and 2014 editions, survived a scare against Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi before prevailing 19-21, 23-21, 21-17 in a thrilling women's singles match that lasted an hour and 27 minutes.
The 22-year-old Indian fought back from 13-16 down in the second game after losing the first. She will face fifth seed Sun Yu of China next.
Easy win for Kidambi
Srikanth, however, eased into the quarter-finals with yet another straight-game win over Denmark's Anders Antonsen in men's singles.
On a 12-match winning streak, Srikanth knocked out World No. 18 Antonsen 21-14, 21-18. The World No. 10 Indian will clash with top seed and World No. 1 Korean Son Wan Ho in the quarter-finals.
"It was a good game today. There were some intense rallies and I am happy for the win," Srikanth said.
Srikanth, who finished at the pre-quarterfinals in the last two editions, has a 4-4 head-to-head record against Son, whom he has beaten twice this year en route to his titles at Indonesia and Australia in June.
"It will be a tough match but I have been improving with each match and looking forward for a good game tomorrow," Srikanth added.
Saina wins in straight games
Saina Nehwal beat Sung Ji Hyun of Korea 21-19, 21-15 to become the first woman to reach the quarter-finals at seven successive World Championships.
However, India's other names in the singles draw B Sai Praneeth and Ajay Jayaram suffered contrasting defeats to crash out of the tournament.
Praneeth fought hard before going down 21-19, 10-21, 12-21 to World No. 4 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, while Jayaram was no match for two-time defending champion Chen Long of China as he lost 11-21, 10-21 in 41 minutes.
India's top mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, seeded 15th, played their heart out before going down 22-20, 18-21, 18-21 to Indonesian World Number 6 duo of Debby Susanto and Praveen Jordan.
Lin Dan, Marin advance
Five-time champion Lin Dan, his compatriot Tian Houwei, Viktor Axelsen and Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent also were through to the quarters in men's singles.
In women's singles, China's Chen Yufei stunned top seed Akane Yamaguchi to reach the quarters. Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, two-time champion Carolina Marin, Japan's Nozomi Okuhara also enter the final eight.
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