India Open badminton | Lakshya downs Ayush on a day of upsets

On a day that saw a slew of retirements and upsets, Lakshya Sen stayed thein the hunt for the year’s first title with a comprehensive 21-12, 21-15 win against compatriot Ayush Shetty in the opening round of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super 750 event here on Tuesday.

It was one of the few things that went on expected lines on day one of the competition. Lakshya, the last Indian winner here in 2022 when it was still a Super 500 event, raced to an 11-3 lead against Ayush, playing in his maiden India Open. The youngster was barely able to move his feet and was unable to control the shuttle and his shots as Lakshya mixed his own, making his opponent struggle to reach the shuttle.

It was 17-6 before Ayush finally found some rhythm, reeling off six straight points to show some fight but Lakshya closed out the game. The 20-year-old showed more fight in the second game, taking a 5-2 lead and staying level till the interval but ran out of steam to bow out in 36 minutes.

In the women’s section, the Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand duo made a 21-15, 21-11 winning start to its campaign against Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn & Sukitta Suwachai of Thailand. Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun, too, advanced to the second round in the men’s doubles.

But there were quite a few upsets elsewhere, with Canada’s Brian Yang sending fourth seed Chou Tien Chen packing 21-19, 21-11, his compatriot Victor Lai defeating Toma Junior Popov 21-12, 16-21, 21-8, and Chi Yu Jen upsetting Frenchman Alex Lanier 21-17, 21-19. Japan’s seventh seed Kodai Naraoka, meanwhile, retired trailing 5-7 in the second game after losing the first to Kenta Nishimoto, as did China’s World No. 11 Fang Jie Gao against Manami Suizu of Japan.

Top results: Men: Lakshya Sen bt Ayush Shetty 21-12, 21-15; Brian Yang (Can) bt Tien Chen Chou (Tpe) 21-19, 21-11; Victor Lai (Can) bt Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-12, 16-21, 21-8; Yu Jen Chi (Tpe) bt Alex Lanier (Fra) 21-17, 21-19.

Doubles: Sabar Karyaman Gutama & Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Ina) bt Zhi Ray Chen & Yu Chieh Lin (Tpe) 21-13, 21-8; Hariharan Amsakarunan & M.R. Arjun bt Yew Sin Ong & EeYi Teo (Mal) 21-15, 21-18.

Women: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Riko Gunki (Jpn) 21-19, 21-15; Mia Blichtfeldt (Den) bt Pin-Chian Chiu (Tpe) 21-19, 21-11; Beiwen Zhang (USA) bt Line Christophersen (Den) 21-17, 21-11.

Doubles: Treesa Jolly & Gayatri Gopichand bt Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn & Sukitta Suwachai (Tha) 21-15, 21-11; Lok Lok Lui & Hiu Yan Tsang (Hkg) bt Priya Konjengbam & Shruti Mishra 21-11, 22-20, 24-22.

Mixed: Hiroki Midorikawa & Nami Matsuyama (Jpn) bt Dhruv Rawat & Maneesha K. 21-9, 21-10.