Star shuttler Lakshya Sen ousted in round of 16 as India's challenge in Indonesia Masters 2025 ends

Jakarta [Indonesia], January 23 (ANI): India's challenge in the Indonesia Masters 2025 ended after Lakshya Sen faltered in the second round on Thursday.
The current world number 10, Lakshya Sen, who reached the semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, saw his run end in the BWF Super 500 tournament after losing his round of 16 match against Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in a game that lasted an hour and 13 minutes.
Nishimoto, ranked 15th in men's singles badminton, won the opening game with a 21-16 scoreline, executing his skills to perfection.
Lakshya retaliated and fought hard to clinch the second game with a 12-21 scoreline. He upped the ante in the second set, and the Japanese shuttler struggled to find breakthroughs.
The decider went right down to the wire with both players giving their all. But in the end, it was Nishimoto who held his nerve and clinched the third game with a 23-21 win.
Before Lakshya, the reigning Asian Games champions, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, suffered an upset against Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh of Thailand.
Chirag and Satwik, ranked ninth in men's doubles badminton, were ousted 22-20, 23-21 by the world No. 75 pair. The Indian duo squandered three game points in the first set and two more in the second set to end up on the losing side in the match that lasted for 50 minutes.
Earlier on Thursday, mixed doubles pair Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila was also eliminated by Malaysia's Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin in the round of 16. After losing the first game, the Malaysians bounced back in the next two to win the match 18-21, 21-15, 21-19.
The women's doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa was the last Indian challenge at the Indonesia Masters. They won the first game against Malaysia's Go Pei Kee and Teoh Mei Xing comprehensively but had to take the exit after losing the match 13-21, 24-22, 21-18. (ANI)