India’s Lakshya Sen, seeded seventh and the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist, defeated Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong 19-21, 21-8, 21-17 in the second round of the Indonesia Masters 2023 badminton tournament on Thursday.
Later in the day, former world number one Saina Nehwal lost to Chinese eighth seed Han Yue 15-21, 7-21.
In the previous round, Lakshya dispatched Japanese shuttler Kodai Naraoka by 21-12, 21-11 scoreline in his men’s singles round of 32 match, while Saina defeated Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po 21-15, 17-21, 21-15.
On Wednesday, HS Prannoy faltered in the opening round, suffering a second successive first-round exit, losing 19-21 10-21 to Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama. He had reached the semifinals of Malaysia Super 1000 but lost in the opening round of India Open last week.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth continued to flatter to deceive as he blew a 18-15 lead and two game points in the second game to lose 10-21 22-24 in 39 minutes.
Priyanshu Rajawat also couldn’t extend his entry into the main draw, going down 21-18 18-21 18-21 to Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia in the first round.
In the women’s singles, Malvika Bansod was no match for fifth seeded Thai Ratchanok Intanon as she lost 15-21 13-21, while Aakarshi Kashyap bowed out after suffering a 17-21 15-21 loss against Clara Azurmendi of Spain.
The mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto also couldn’t cross the opening hurdle, losing 16-21 15-21 to third seed France combination of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.
Rohan kapoor and N Sikki Reddy also went down 21-12 21-23 16-21 to Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah and Aisyah Salsabila Putri Pranata.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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