In the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton competition, Lakshya Sen lost in the second round, prolonging his stumbling run on the international scene.
Lakshya Sen, a star shuttler for India, lost in the second round of the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton competition on Thursday, prolonging his dismal run on the international scene. Kenta Nishimoto of Japan defeated the 10th-ranked Indian 16-21 21-12 21-23. Earlier in the day, Malaysia’s Pang Ron Hoo and Su Yin Cheng defeated the mixed doubles team of Dhruv Kapila and Tanshia Crasto 21-18 15-21 19-21 after squandering an early advantage. Sen, who won gold in the Commonwealth Games and silver at the Asian Games, had a bad start to the match after losing the opening game.The lower-ranked Nishimoto skillfully handled the Indian’s renowned defense, taking a 9-3 lead and never looking back, even if Sen attempted a 10-11 comeback. However, Nishimoto used quick rallies and won the opening match handily. With a forceful smash, Sen jumped out to a 6-3 lead early in the second game.Long rallies were Nishimoto’s method of wearing out Sen, but the Indian’s deft strokeplay gave him an 11–6 lead at the half.
Sen’s retrieving prowess was next on full display as Nishimoto made numerous mistakes at the net to increase his advantage to 16-8.
The drift caused problems for the Japanese, as Sen scored points whenever he wanted to end the second game at 21-12 and send it to the final.
After switching sides, Nishimoto quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the decisive, and Sen’s turn to falter.However, a cool-headed Sen held his opponent until 7-7.
With a jump smash in the decider, Sen seized the lead for the first time, but he made mistakes because of the drift, falling down 9–11 at the final break of the match and never really settling into the game.
Later in the day, the Malaysian duo of Pei Kee Go and Mei Xing Teoh will face the women’s doubles team of Crasto and seasoned Ashwini Ponnappa.
Later in the evening, Thailand’s Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh will be played by the top-seeded Indian men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.Two-time Olympian PV Sindhu and up-and-coming men’s singles star Priyansh Rajawat lost badly in the first round on Wednesday.
