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Indira Gandhi Sports Complex: Former champion Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the BWF India Open after going down to Frenchman Christo Popov in the round of 16 here on Thursday.

Former world No. 1 and 2021 World Championships silver medallist, Srikanth suffered a 14-21, 21-17, 17-21 loss against Popov in a contest that lasted over an hour here at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.

Srikanth dropped the opening game 14–21, but the Indian shuttler showed strong character to stage a comeback in the second. Playing with control, he clinched the game 21–17 to push the contest into a decider. However, the Frenchman raised his level in the deciding game, proved the steadier of the two in the closing stages, and sealed the match by wrapping up the third game 21–17.