Birmingham, March 12
Indian Commonwealth Games champion and Olympian Lakshya Sen advanced to the second round of the ongoing All England Open badminton tournament.
On Tuesday, Lakshya beat Chinese Taipei's Su Li-yang at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham by 13-21, 21-17, 21-15 in an hour and 15 minutes, as per Olympics.com.
After losing the first game and trailing in the second by 7-11, the former All England finalist from to years back, staged a remarkable fightback, winning the next six successive points and the game to set a captivating decider.
In the final game, both players pushed each other to their limits, with the scoreline reading 15-15 at one point. But Lakshya held his nerve, and the 15th-ranked star won six successive points to defeat the world number 37.
In the other men's singles match up, HS Prannoy crashed out following a 19-21, 16-21 loss to France's Toma Junior Popov in a 53-minute affair. In the first game, Prannoy took a 4-0 lead before the Frenchman earned his first point. During the mid-game break, Prannoy had a slight edge by 11-9, but Toma erased the deficit to win his first game.
From then on, there was no stopping as Toma was more comfortable in winning the second game and hence, the match.
Popov seemed more comfortable in the second game and closed out the match without any hiccups.
In the women's competition, Malvika Bansod moved to the round of 16, defeating Singapore's Yeo Jia Min in an hour and three minutes in a well-fought contest. The 28th-ranked Indian stunned the world number 12, by a 21-13, 10-21, 21-17 scoreline to move into the next round.
Coming to the mixed doubles action, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran-Aadya Variyath crashed out in the first round after a 21-6, 21-15 defeat against the People's Republic of China's Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui.
PV Sindhu and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty begin their All England Open 2025 campaigns from Wednesday.
-All England Open 2025 badminton, India Day 1 results
Men's Singles
Toma Junior Popov (FRA) bt HS Prannoy 21-19, 21-16Lakshya Sen bt Su Li-yang (TPE) bt 13-21, 21-17, 21-15
Women's Singles
Malvika Bansod bt Yeo Jia Min (SGP) 21-13, 10-21, 21-17Women's Doubles
Hsieh Pei-Shan/Hung En-Tzu (TPE) bt Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa 22-20, 21-18Mixed Doubles
Guo Xin Wa/Chen Fang Hui (CHN) bt Sathish Kumar Karunakaran/Aadya Variyath 21-6, 21-15.
- ANI