Arctic Open: Lakshya Sen knocked out in pre-quarterfinals

Vantaa [Finland], October 10 (ANI): Commonwealth Games Champion Lakshya Sen was eliminated in the pre-quarterfinals round of the ongoing Arctic Open 2024 badminton tournament on Thursday,
In the pre-quarters of the competition being held in Vantaa, the world number 19 Lakhshya lost to Chou Tien Chen, 10th in the badminton rankings in a hard-fought match by 19-21, 21-18, 21-15 in one hour and 10 minutes, as per Olympics.com.
Lakshya was playing his first match in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour since missing out on an Olympic medal in Paris and matched Chou Tien Chen in early exchanges. The Indian gained momentum to lead by 13-7 but his opponent fought back to level the scores at 15-15 and take lead. However, Lakshya won final four points to start off the match with a win.
In the second game, Lakshya had a 9-5 lead but fumbled it after his opponent levelled the scores at 13-13. Eventually, the Indian lost his momentum completely in the decider game which was relatively more one-sided.
This was Lakshya's fourth defeat to Chou in six matches. In their previous match at Paris Olympics, Lakshya had emerged victorious in the quarterfinal clash.
Lakshya received a walkover in the first round of the Vantaa meet after 28th ranked Danish opponent Rasmus Gemke withdrew from the match.
Kiran George, who progressed from qualification round, lost to Indonesia's current Asian champion Jonatan Christie 21-17, 21-8. Kiran was heading into the game with a win over higher-ranked Wang Tzu Wei in the first round.
In the women's singles, India's 17-year-old women's sensation Unnati Hooda fell to former CWG Champion Canada's Michelle Li in straight two games by 21-10, 21-19. Michelle had also beaten PV Sindhu in the first round on Tuesday.
Aakarshi Kashyap also lost to second-seeded Chinese star Han Yue 21-9, 21-8 while Malvika Bansod succumbed to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon with a 21-15, 21-8 scoreline.
Coming to the mixed doubles, India's Sathish Kumar Karunakaran/Aadya Variyath lost to fourth-seeded Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi of China by 21-12, 21-15. (ANI)