India Open 2023: Lakshya Sen, Saina Nehwal ousted in R16
The Indian badminton contingent received twin blows as both Lakshya Sen and Saina Nehwal exited in R16 of the ongoing Indian Open Super 750 on Thursday. Lakshya, a Commonwealth Games gold-winning medalist, lost to world number 20 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark 21-16, 15-21, 18-21. Meanwhile, Nehwal lost to Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China 9-21, 12-21, ending India's campaign in the tournament. Here's more.
Sen, Nehwal make second-round exits
Sen beat compatriot HS Prannoy in straight games in the opening round. Gemke, however, pulled curtains to his run. The 21-year-old was recently ousted by Prannoy in the opening round of the Malaysia Open Super 1000. Meanwhile, Nehwal beat Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt 21-17, 12-21, 21-19 in the opening round. The London Olympics bronze medalist failed to get going in the second round.
Satwiksairaj-Chirag withdraw ahead of the second-round encounter
Reigning champions, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrew ahead of their second-round match against China's Yu Chen Liu and Xuan Yi Ou in men's doubles. Recently, the two shuttlers bowed out of the 2023 Malaysia Open in the last-four stage. Satwik and Chirag lost to the world number 17 pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 16-21, 21-11, 15-21.
What about the others?
Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala lost to China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 14-21, 10-21. CWG bronze medalists, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly lost 9-21, 16-21 defeat to sixth-seeded Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu of China in women's doubles in R16.
India had a disappointing campaign in Malaysia Open
The Indian badminton contingent hasn't had a great start to 2023. Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, a former world number one, made first-round exits in Malaysia Open in women's and men's singles, respectively. Srikanth lost 19-21, 14-21 to Kenta Nishimoto, while Nehwal succumbed to a 12-21, 21-17, 12-21 defeat to Han Yue. PV Sindhu was also knocked out after losing to Olympic champion Carolina Marin.
