FORMER champion Lakshya Sen produced a composed and tactical performance to progress to the quarter-finals of the USD 950,000 India Open Super 750 badminton tournament but Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy bowed out after a spirited show here on Thursday. The top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, one of the favourites to win 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.

 

Sen, a 2021 world championships bronze medallist, showed resilience and maturity to overcame Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 21-19, 21-11 in the second round to emerge as the only Indian challenge in singles at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. “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 told 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. Earlier, Srikanth fought hard but went down 21-14, 17-21, 21- 17 to France’s Christo Popov, the reigningWorld Tour Finals champion.

 

Prannoy also pushed his opponent close before losing 18- 21, 21-19, 21-14 to eighth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore. Malvika Bansod also went down 18-21, 15- 21 to C h i n a’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.