Former champion Lakshya Sen delivered a composed and strategic performance to advance to the quarterfinals of the USD 950,000 India Open Super 750 badminton tournament. However, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy were eliminated despite spirited efforts on Thursday.
The top men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who were among the favourites for the title, also exited after a heartbreaking 27-25, 21-23, 19-21 loss to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita in the second round later in the day.
Srikanth fought hard but went down 21-14, 17-21, 21-17 to France’s Christo Popov, the reigning World Tour Finals champion.
Prannoy also came close before losing 18-21, 21-19, 21-14 to the eighth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.
Malvika Bansod was defeated 18-21, 15-21 by China’s fifth seed Han Yue in a women’s singles match.
India’s challenge in women’s doubles also ended when Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost 22-20, 22-24, 21-23 against seventh seeds Li Yijing and Luo Xumin of China in a marathon match that lasted 84 minutes.
Sen Beats Nishimoto
Sen, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, demonstrated resilience and maturity by overcoming Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 21-19, 21-11 in the second round, emerging as the only Indian singles player left in the tournament at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Sen struggled initially with timing and depth, allowing Nishimoto to seize control and open up a 16-11 lead at the mid-game interval. Down 14-18, Sen showed great composure as he extended the rallies, retrieved fiercely, and forced errors from his opponent. A run of five consecutive points swung the momentum decisively, enabling Sen to close out the game at the first opportunity. The second game was a one-sided affair as Sen raised his intensity, mixing pace intelligently and alternating between sharp half-smashes and disguised drops, denying Nishimoto any rhythm. With his defence holding firm and his shot selection precise, Sen sealed the contest in 50 minutes.
“At the start of the opening game I was struggling with my rhythm a bit and was lifting short and that allowed him to attack more. But then I started lifting the shuttle longer and focused on defending well and I think that turned the first game,” Lakshya was quoted as saying to reporters.
“In the second game, I knew I could not give him the opportunity to keep playing his game, so mixed my speed and it worked.”
The 24-year-old from Almora will next face Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi, who defeated Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 21-16, 21-17.
(With inputs from Agencies)
