BWF World Championships 2022: Lakshya Sen progresses to Round 2, B Sai Praneeth bows out
In the opening round of the BWF World Championships 2022, Lakshya Sen sailed into Round 2, defeating Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus. However, B Sai Praneeth bowed out early, losing to Chou Tien Chen.
FollowCommonwealth Games (CWG) gold-medalist Lakshya Sen persisted with his impressive run, as he trounced Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark in straight games, progressing into the men's singles Round 2 at the 2022 BWF World Championships in Tokyo on Monday. India also registered twin victories in the women's and mixed doubles competitions on the opening day, which also witnessed B Sai Praneeth bowing out after his loss in three games to world number four Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen. The 20-year-old Sen, who bagged the bronze medal on his debut in Spain last year, bested 21-12, 21-11 over an irregular Vittinghus in his opening contest.
Praneeth, the 2019 bronze medallist, made a valiant effort before going down 15-21, 21-15, 15-21 to Chen in just over an hour. It was yet another forgettable outing for Praneeth in the Japanese capital, especially after his struggles at last year's Olympic Games in the same city. He had participated without a proper coach or physio and had been ousted prematurely.
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However, former CCWG bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy progressed to the women's doubles Round 2, securing a 21-7, 21-9 win over Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq of Maldives. The Indian duo will now have an uphill task to tame top seeds from China, Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan, in the following round.
In mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar defeated the duo of Patrick Scheiel and Franziska Volkmann of Germany 21-13, 21-13 in 29 minutes, making a positive start to their crusade. The Indian pair will be up against 14th seeds, Thailand's Supak Jomkoh and Supissara Paewsampran next.
Sen, seeded ninth, played exceptional cross-court returns using his deep forehand, troubling the 36-year-old Danish, who possessed a 2-1 head-to-head count against the Indian before his loss. There veteran Danish gave his total effort but failed to stop Lakshya from taking the opening game, as Sen always stayed a step ahead.
A pitiless Vittinghus kept testing the Indian by employing him in fast-paced rallies, with one lasting 31 shots. Yet, Sen used his classy winners to fend them off, with the Danish miscuing at times. In the mid-game interval of the second game, Sen again managed a four-point edge after Vittinghus shot one wide and smacked his head out of frustration.
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At 11-15, Vittinghus made Sen twist and turn, as the former engaged in angled returns to win a point. Regardless, he was too erratic to put any pressure on the Indian. Soon, five straight points took Sen to match points, as he sealed it with a commanding smash.
Among other Indians, B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri lost 11-21, 21-19, 15-21 to Masayuki Onodera and Hiroki Okamura of Japan in the men's doubles. As for the women's singles, Malvika Bansod also crashed out in the first round after losing 14-21, 12-21 to Line Christophersen of Denmark.
(With inputs from PTI)
