On Tuesday, India’s Lakshya Sen battled hard against China’s Lu Guang Zu but lost in three games to quit the Denmark Open Super 750 badminton competition early. Lakshya, a bronze medalist at the 2021 World Championships, squandered an early lead to lose 21-12 19-21 14-21 against Lu in a men’s singles first-round match that took 70 minutes. The 22-year-old Almora native, who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, had lost in the second round of the Arctic Open in Finland last week. PV Sindhu, a double Olympic medalist, advanced to the second round after her opponent Pai Yu Po of China Taipei quit midway through the second game, with the Indian leading 21-8 13-7.
Malvika Bansod, who had reached the quarterfinals in the China Open, was unable to overcome the first barrier, losing to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh 13-21 12-21 in the women’s singles. Aakarshi Kashyap also had an early exit, losing 13-21 12-21 to seventh-seeded Thai shuttler Supanida Katethong.
Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda were also eliminated in the first round of women’s doubles, falling 18-21 22-24 against Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun.
Lakshya, competing in his second event since the Olympics, maintained up with his Chinese opponent before going ahead at 8-8 for an 11-9 lead at the break. The Indian maintained his lead after the resumption, jumping to 20-11 with a seven-point surge to comfortably win the first game.
After switching sides, Lakshya led 8-2, but Lu rallied to cut the deficit to 11-12. The Indian stretched his advantage to 16-11, but Lu’s determination paid off as he continued to trouble Lakshya, reversing the situation and leading 19-18. The Indians drew level, but Lu secured the necessary two points to stage a comeback. In the decider, Lu kept his cool and led 14-9, while the Indians struggled to keep up. Lu quickly accumulated six match points and sealed the victory when Lakshya went long.