Basel, March 24 : World championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth marched into the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament, beating Christo Popov of France here on Thursday. Srikanth prevailed 13-21, 25-23, 21-11 in a thrilling match against the Frenchman here at St. Jakobshalle Basel. Meanwhile, Parupalli Kashyap was given a walkover by reigning All England Open champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. The Dane withdrew from the tournament as he fell sick after his second round match. Taking to Twitter, Axelsen said “In the end of my match yesterday (Wednesday) I started feeling uncomfortable and after waking up this morning I am still not feeling well. I had hoped I was able to recover and get ready to compete again, however that isn’t the case.” “I am really gutted about this as I really enjoy playing here in Switzerland and had been looking forward to see how I could do this week. It makes me sad that I have to withdraw from my match today. I will now take the days needed in order for me to recover before I start my training towards my next tournaments.” BAV RKM