French Open: Kidambi Srikanth ousts Lakshya Sen to advance in 2nd round
Oct 26, 2022
Spain [France], October 26 : Lakshya Sen, the Commonwealth Games champion, was eliminated early from the French Open 2022 BWF Super 750 competition after falling to fellow Indian Kidambi Srikanth in the first round of the men's singles competition on Wednesday.
Going into the match Sen was definitely the favourite, given his meteoric rise but was defeated by former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth 21-18, 21-18, improving his head-to-head record to 2-0. During the BWF World Championships 2021 semifinal match between the two Indian athletes, Srikanth impressively triumphed 21-17, 14-21, 17-21.
Kidambi Srikanth, who is now ranked No. 11 in the world in badminton, took control of the match right away and quickly built a commanding 18-12 lead. However, Lakshya Sen turned it into a game and levelled himself at 18-18.
Kidambi Srikanth's experience shined through as he assured himself a lead with a late flurry, just when it appeared the momentum might have switched.
Lakshya Sen attempted to tie the game by being more aggressive in the opening stages of the second game, but veteran Srikanth made sure he stayed on his young compatriot's heels.
Lakshya Sen, 21, eventually buckled under strain as Srikanth, who is eight years Lakshya's senior, raced at the perfect time and won the game in 46 minutes.
In the second round, Kidambi Srikanth will take on either Rasmus Gemke of Denmark or Nhat Nguyen of Ireland.
Earlier Indian shuttler Sameer Verma scripted a huge upset to defeat Indonesia's Anthony Ginting 21-15, 21-23, 22-20 in a closely-contested game at the French Open badminton tournament on Wednesday at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin.
The Indian men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila crashed out of the ongoing French Open 2022 in the first round after losing to Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia in Paris on Wednesday.
The Indian pair registered a loss within two straight games by 15-21, 16-21. Arjun and Kapila offered some solid competition to their Indonesian opponents but it was not enough.
