All England Open Championship 2022 | Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu ousted, Lakshya Sen in quarters
A file image of Lakshya Sen.
|(Twitter)
PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal of India were eliminated from the All-England Open Badminton Championships 2022 after losing in the second round of the women's singles category on Thursday in Birmingham. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen progressed to the round of 8 of the men's singles tournament.
Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, was defeated by world No. 13 Sayaka Takahashi of Japan 21-19, 16-21, 21-17. In the opening game, Sayaka Takahashi battled toe-to-toe with world No. 7 PV Sindhu and broke away right at the finish to grab a 1-0 lead.
Sindhu, the tournament's sixth seed, upped her performance in the second game, bringing the match back to an even playing field. Unfortunately, it was not to be the Indian's day, as Sayaka Takahashi stunned the former world champion in the third game. On day two, Nehwal was defeated by Akane Yamaguchi, the reigning world champion and world No. 2, 21-14, 17-21, 21-17 in 50 minutes.
Akane Yamaguchi was on her way to a straight games triumph, but former world No. 1 Saina Nehwal battled her way back into the match late in the second game and forced a decider. Nehwal, who turned 32 today, almost pulled off a remarkable comeback in the third game after trailing 11-3 at the break, but Akane Yamaguchi's early advantage proved to be decisive.
In the second round of the men's singles, top Indian shuttler Sen upset world No. 3 Anders Antonsen 21-16, 21-18. Sen took the lead right away and won the first game. In the second game, Lakshya Sen, the world No. 11 player, was evenly matched by his Danish opponent, but the Indian picked up the tempo just in time to advance to the quarterfinals.
Later in the day, world No. 12 Kidambi Srikanth lost against Anthony Ginting of Indonesia 21-9, 18-21, 19-21. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of the men's doubles and Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand of the women's doubles both advanced to the round of 8 after winning their second-round matches.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the next round as their opponents retired midway through the second game. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Germany's Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel 21-7, 21-7. After losing the first game 21-18, the Indian duo was ahead 19-14 in the second game when they withdrew.
