Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the 2018 All England Badminton Championships. The first day saw P. V. Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and H. S. Prannoy advance to the next round while Saina Nehwal and Sai Praneeth were sent packing.
READ: Saina knocked out of All England
Earlier in the day, four-time champion Lee Chong Wei, Lin's great rival, beat Brazil's Ygor Coelho 21-15, 21-17. Lee is the top seed following the withdrawal of Viktor Axelsen. - AFP China's Lin Dan and Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei eased through their opening matches at the All England Open but women's third seed Ratchanok Intanon crashed out.
ALSO READ: Lin, Lee win openers at All England Championship
At the end of Day 2, only two Indians remain in the competition — P.V. Sindhu and H.S. Prannoy. It is going to be an interesting Friday for the fans with Sindhu facing nemesis Nozomi Okuhara for a place in the semifinals. In the men's singles, H.S. Prannoy will face China's Yuxlang Huang who halted Srikanth's charge in the second round on Thursday.
After a tough fight, the Indian bows out to China's Yuxlang Huang 11-21, 21-15, 20-22 loss to World No. 25 Yuxlang Huang of China in the pre-quarters.
20-22: It's all over for India's Kidambi Srikanth.
20-20: Who will keep the cool ?
19-18: Srikanth has made it an habit to stretch the match to the optimum level and give his fans some tense moments.
19-17: Two points separate Srikanth from a last eight berth.
18-16: It's four points in a row for Srikanth. He seems to have picked his game at a crucial point.
16-16: Srikanth makes a short comeback. Wins two consecutive points to pull level.
14-16: Huang maintains his lead.
11-13: Huang finally takes a two-point lead. Will Srikanth manage to pull back and keep a quarterfinal date with compatriot H.S. Prannoy?
8-8, 9-9, 10-10: Srikanth and Huang are not giving anything away. It's a close battle. It's 11-11 now. Frayed nerves everywhere.
7-7: The two players are going neck-to-neck in this crucial game to decide the quarterfinalist.
Third game: After trailing for a short period, the scores are level at 5-5. It is going to be a tense finish.
21-15: We certainly have a third game and it's advantage Srikanth now. He wrapped up the second game pretty quickly.
Srikanth has raced to a 19-14 lead in the second game.
Srikanth leads 11-5. After such a dismal first game, this looks promising.
Second Game:
First Game: Srikanth, who just climbed to a career-best World No. 2 in the BWF rankings released on Thursday, in trouble. He loses the first game 21-11 to World No. 25 Yuxlang Huang.
Kidambi Srikanth vs Yuxlang Huang
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It was a straightforward win for H.S. Prannoy in the Round of 16. He defeated Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto 21-10, 21-19 to enter the quarterfinals. He will face either Srikanth of Yuxlang Huang in the last eight.
21-19: Sugiarto returns long and Prannoy wins the match. He is through to the quarterfinals of the All England Badminton Championships.
20-19: A nice body smash gives Prannoy his first match point.
19-19: Sugiarto giving it his all. Prannoy hits the net and the scores are level.
19-17: Prannoy closing in on a win here. Sugiarto front-court play walls wide.
18-17: Prannoy wins another wonderful rally after Sugiarto's return fails to cross the net.
17-16: Prannoy takes the lead for the first time in the second game.
15-16: Quick reflex action helps Prannoy survive Sugiarto's low returns. Manages to make the Indonesian err after doing the running around for a deserving point.
11-15: Prannoy finally snaps his opponent's run with a powerful smash. Sugiarto's attempt flies off the court.
10-14: Another long one. Prannoy shakes his head in disappointment.
10-13: Prannoy making a lot of unforced errors. Hits another one long to concede a three-point lead.
8-10: Prannoy returns long after a decent rally. Sugiarto responds to the point with a fist pump.
7-9: The Indonesian player has come on to his own now. Giving Prannoy a tough challenge.
6-6: H.S. Prannoy levels the score after the match's best rally so far.
5-6: Tommy Sugiarto is showing a lot more resistance in the second game.
Second Game begins
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21-10: Prannoy takes the first game easily.
16-9: Prannoy commits an error at the net.
15-7: Short rallies so far in the match. Prannoy looks very comfortable against his Indonesian opponent.
12-7: Prannoy wins back the serve with a clever placement.
11-6: Prannoy has come good start. Races to a 9-5 lead in the first game.
First Game:
H.S. Prannoy vs Tommy Sugiarto.
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Sindhu was pushed to the limit by Jindapol but held on to her nerve to win 21-13, 13-21, 21-18 in a little over an hour. She now faces the possibility of clashing against Nozomi Okuhara in the quarters.
And Sindhu does it! She takes a gruelling third game 21-18 to win the match and advance to the quarterfinal.
20-18 Match point for Sindhu!
19-18 Advantage Sindhu! She takes two points in a row to close in on what will be a hard-fought win, to say the least.
17-18 Sindhu enjoyed a brief lead but Jindapol fights back to take a one-point lead as we head into the last few points of this tie.
16-16 We're back on level terms now! A powerful forehand smash seals the point for Sindhu.
15-16 The momentum seems to have shifted in Sindhu's favour now.
12-15 The Thai shuttler is up by three points now. Sindhu has a lot of catching up to do!
11-12 Jindapol makes a remarkable comeback as she scalps three consecutive points to surge into the lead.
11-9 Sindhu takes two crucial points to take a lead going into the drinks break. This has been an incredible game so far, with both players fighting tooth and nail to seal a quarterfinal berth.
9-9 Jindapol soars right back into the tie as the scores are now level in the third and deciding game.
8-7 The Thai is calling the shots now as she reduced the deficit to a mere point.
8-5 Splendid cross-court smash from Jindapol as she just manages to find the line and take the point.
8-4 Sindhu sends a booming smash to extend her lead to four points now.
6-3 Sindhu makes Jindapol move all around the court as she prevails in what was the longest rally of the match: 33 shots.
5-2 Jindapol finds the net as Sindhu maintains her lead.
3-0 Sindhu gets off to a strong start in the decider with a three-point lead.
-Third game begins-
Jindapol secures the second game 21-13 with a huge forehand smash to push the tie to a deciding third game.
13-17 Sindhu at it again as she takes three points in a row to come within four points of levelling the scores.
10-17 The Thai plays a brilliantly-timed forehand to extend her lead to seven points.
10-14 Jindapol's shot falls inches wide as Sindhu takes another point. This is turning out to be a close contest now.
9-14 What an engrossing match this is! Jindapol fails to get the shuttle on court as Sindhu inches closer.
7-13 That's two points on the trot for Sindhu. Can she claw her way back into the game?
5-12 Sindhu fires a smash to reduce the deficit.
3-11 Jindapol is targeting Sindhu's backhand now. She's won the last three points whilst attacking Sindhu's backhand, effectively.
3-9 My oh my, Jindapol is taking the attack to Sindhu! She now enjoys a six-point lead!
3-6 The Thai seems in fine touch now and has really stepped up her game. She takes a three-point lead courtesy of a strong forehand crosscourt.
2-4 Jindapol takes an early lead in the second game. Can she capitalise on this?
-Second game begins-
Sindhu clinches the first game 21-13 in 19 minutes. It has been a relatively easy evening for the fourth-seeded Indian so far, with her opponent making far too many unforced errors.
18-11 The Indian is now three points from taking the first game.
17-8 Sindhu's simply keeping the shuttle in play as Jindapol gifts her point after point by committing repeated unforced errors.
15-7 Jindapol's attempted drop clips the net, Sindhu up by eight now.
13-6 A huge forehand smash does the trick as Sindhu extends her lead.
11-5 Eight minutes into the tie, Sindhu enjoys a six-point lead.
9-4 Sindhu in control of this game now. Jindapol's game has been littered with unforced errors.
7-3 What a rally! 31 shots and Sindhu is the one to prevail. She is currently on a six-point streak.
6-3 Sindhu finds her groove as she races to a three-point lead.
4-3 Sindhu plays a delicate drop to take the lead again.
1-3 Sindhu sends one long as Jindapol scalps three points in a row.
1-0 Sindhu gets off to a winning start.
-First game begins-
The players have arrived on court and we're in for a thrilling encounter.
Sindhu will be the first Indian in action today as she takes on Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol. The Indian leads the head-to-head meetings 2-1.
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