At the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament, Lakshya Sen showed a dominant performance, advancing to the quarterfinals with a straight-game win, while two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu’s campaign ended in the second round.
Lakshya, who narrowly missed a bronze at the Paris Olympics, displayed his lethal form in a 46-minute second-round match against Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke. He won 21-6, 21-18, using his sharp net play and court coverage to control the game. Lakshya will now face the winner of the match between Japan's Takuma Obayashi and third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the quarterfinals.
On the other hand, Sindhu, the World No.19, faced a tough loss to Singapore's Yeo Jia Min after a hard-fought battle. Having defeated the higher-ranked Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the opening round, Sindhu fought valiantly but ultimately lost 16-21, 21-17, 21-23 in a match that lasted over an hour. This marked her first loss to Min in six meetings.
The second round also saw early exits for other Indian women’s singles players. Anupama Upadhyaya was defeated 7-21, 14-21 by Japan's Natsuki Nidaira, while Malvika Bansod was crushed 9-21, 9-21 by eighth-seeded Supanida Katethong of Thailand.
In the women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand couldn’t match up to the second-seeded Chinese pair of Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning. The Indian duo, ranked 18th, lost 16-11, 11-21 in a 43-minute second-round match.
However, it was a positive day for India’s men’s doubles team. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, returning to action after a break following the Paris Olympics, moved into the quarterfinals with a 21-19, 21-15 win over Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Soggard. The Asian Games gold medalists will face the second-seeded Danish pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the next round.
Lakshya’s second-game contest with Gemke was more competitive. The Danish player fought hard, but Lakshya held a slender one-point lead at the halfway mark and built on it with strategic net play and powerful smashes. Despite Gemke saving two match points, Lakshya sealed the victory with two booming smashes to wrap up the match in style.
Sindhu’s match against Min was a thriller. In the first game, Min capitalized on Sindhu’s unforced errors to take an 11-6 lead, but the Indian star clawed back to reduce the deficit to 11-10. However, Min’s consistency in the latter part of the game saw her win five consecutive points to take the first game. In the second game, Sindhu came out attacking, racing to an 8-5 lead. Despite a strong comeback from Min, Sindhu’s experience helped her level the scores. The deciding game was a battle of nerves, with Sindhu leading 13-9 before Min's determined attack forced errors from a tiring Sindhu. Min sealed the match with a nail-biting finish.
Overall, while Lakshya Sen impressed with his strong performance, PV Sindhu and the other Indian players faced tough challenges in their respective matches.
