Lakshya Sen will try to cap off his season with a win at the first King Cup International Badminton Open, which begins on Friday in Shenzhen, China. The 23-year-old from Almora, ended a title drought earlier this month by winning the Syed Modi Super 300 tournament in Lucknow. He will compete against some of the world’s greatest men’s singles players over three days. The 12th-ranked Indian lost out on a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics.
After losing a playoff, Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long, placed 17th. In the competition’s first round, which will consist of ten matches. The competition was founded by two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China. Will feature eight men’s singles competitors competing for the top prize. Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand and Anders Antonsen of Denmark are the highest-ranked players in the competition. It will not provide ranking points.
Other noteworthy players include former world champion Loh Kean Yew from Singapore and Frenchman Alex Lanier. China will be represented by two 18-year-olds: Hu Zhe An and Wang Zi Jun. On Sunday, Lin Dan and Taufik Hidayat will face off in an exhibition game. Lin Dan won gold medals in the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics, and Taufik Hidayat, who is now retired, won gold in Athens 2004.
Lakshya Sen Will Fail Underpressure
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on Monday that Kumar Nitesh, India’s Paralympic champion. He has been nominated for the men’s Para-Badminton Player of the Year, along with three others. Nitesh, who earned his first gold medal in the SL3 category at the Paris Paralympics, will compete for the award against Malaysia’s Cheah Liek Hou (SU5), Japan’s Daiki Kajiwara (WH2), and China’s Qu Zimo (WH1).
The 29-year-old Indian has also won two silver and one bronze medal in the World Championships. Li Feng Mei, Sarina Satomi, Liu Yu Tong, and Leani Ratri Oktila have all received nominations in the women’s category. The tournament adopts a single-elimination format, comprising 10 matches in total.
