On Thursday, Lakshya Sen and the elite men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were eliminated in the second round of the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton competition in Jakarta. Sen, rated tenth in the world. He continued his struggles on the international circuit with a second-round loss against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the men’s singles, 16-21 21-12 21-23 in 50 minutes. He had a slow start to the match.
The Asian Games silver medallist and Commonwealth Games gold winner started by losing the first game. The lower-ranked Nishimoto ably challenged the Indian’s famous defense. Taking a 9-3 lead and never looking back, despite Sen’s 10-11 comeback attempt. However, Nishimoto used quick rallies to win the first game easily. Sen got off to a blazing start in the second set, securing a 6-3 lead with an aggressive smash.
Nishimoto played extended rallies to tire Sen out. But the Indian’s brilliant strokeplay gave him an 11-6 advantage at the break. Nishimoto then made numerous blunders at the net, as Sen’s retrieving abilities were fully displayed, extending his advantage to 16-8. The Japanese were disturbed by the drift, as Sen scored points at will to end the second game 21-12 and force the match to a decider.
Lakshya Sen; from Prodigy to Pressure Victim
After switching sides, Lakshya Sen struggled, as Nishimoto stormed ahead 5-1 in the decider. Sen, on the other hand, remained calm and composed throughout the match, eventually tying his opponent 7-7. The 23-year-old seized the lead for the first time in the decider with a jump smash but made errors owing to the drift, falling behind 9-11 at the final break of the tie.
Tanisha Crasto-Dhruv Kapila, a mixed doubles combo, was also ousted in the round of 16 by Malaysia’s Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin. After dropping the opening game, the Malaysians rallied in the following two to win the match 18-21, 21-15, and 21-19. Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa were the latest Indians to face off in the Indonesia Masters. They won the first game handily. But they were eliminated after losing 13-21, 24-22, 21-18.
