Lakshya Sen in action© X (formerly Twitter)
India’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarter-finals of the China Masters badminton tournament after a 21-19, 21-15 win over Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard on Thursday. Rankireddy and Shetty were the first Indians to win a match on the day and advance in the tournament after P.V. Sindhu, Anupama Upadhyaya, Malvika Bansod and women’s doubles pair Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost their second round matches in this BWF World Tour. Super 750 event.
Facing the pair ranked 15th in the world, the Indian duo, playing their first tournament since the Paris Olympics, showed their dominance on court despite trailing 5-2 in the first game and holding a slim 11-9 lead at the break.
The Danish duo put up a tough fight but the Indians made sure to keep pace in the match as the former showed great skill on the court. In the last match, Rankireddy and Shetty managed to win with a score of 21-19.
In the next game, Rankireddy-Shetty learned from their previous mistakes and started on a high, scoring three points in a row to lead 6–3. However, the Danish opponents tried to mark their presence in the game but the Indian pair did not give them enough space to take the lead and won 21-15. The ninth-ranked Indian pair won the match in 44 minutes and will face Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the quarter-final match on Friday.
In the men’s singles match, Lakshya Sen outlasted Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke 21-16, 21-18 to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.
With the win, Sen took his personal tally to 4-1 against Gemke and became the only Indian player remaining in the singles category. The 23-year-old had a brilliant start, quickly gaining an early lead over his opponent and continuing to build on that by winning the first game 21-16.
In the second game, Gemke tried his best to match Sen’s energy, but was unable to defeat him in battle. The Indian shuttler finished the match by recording a 21-18 score and booked their place in the quarter-finals.
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