Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen bowed out of the Germany Open after a surprising defeat in the first round of the tournament. Sen never looked in his element as he lost against France’s Christo Popov.
The World No. 41 Popov was all over Sen as he defeated the Indian shuttler in straight games, 21-19, 21-16. The frenchman mixed up his attack and defense and caught Sen off guard many times. It was a disastrous performance from the World No.12 and sixth seed at the German Open to go down against a lot less fancier opponent.
Lakshya Sen never looked like himself and still he had his chances but could not capitalize on them and his opponent made the most of it and won the match in straight games.
Overall it was a sad day for Indian badminton fans as all other Indian shuttlers also lost and bowed out of the BWF World Tour Super 300 event. Mithun Manjunath tried his best but the odds were against him as he was facing Singapore’s fourth seed Loh Kean Yew. Manjunath won the second game against the fancied Singaporean. But could not hold his nerves for long as Loh Kean Yew won the match 21-8, 19-21, 21-11 to progress to the next round.
Another Indian shuttler, the talented Malvika Bansod also got a tough draw in the opening round of the German Open as she was up against World No. six China’s Wang Zhi Yi. The Chinese shuttler used her experience and simply crushed Bansod 21-13, 21-14. Even the rising shuttler Tasnim Mir also fell short against eighth-seeded Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 8-21, 10-21.
Indian mixed team pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also lost their clash against Scotland’s Adam Hall Julie Macpherson as they lost 10-21, 12-21, ending India’s quest in Germany.
It meant that in a single day, the entire Indian contingent bowed out of the BWF World Tour Super 300 event. It is sad for Indian badminton as some of their next generation players hardly have a fight against their much fancied opponents. Whereas Lakshya Sen’s defeat just came as a shocker.
