World Championships: Sindhu, Ayush win, Lakshya suffer shock exit; Satwik-Chirag receive walkover

New Delhi (PTI): Lakshya Sen suffered a shock second-round defeat to USA's Garret Tan to make an early exit but two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and fast-rising Ayush Shetty progressed to the pre-quarterfinals at the BWF World Championships here on Wednesday.

Sen, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, could not match USA's former world Junior No.1 Tan's pace, attack and deception, losing 21-19 19-21 17-21 in the men's singles round of 32.

"It was a very tough match. I gave my all whatever I had in my tank. I was also exhausted physically in the third game. I will give a lot of credit to him, he played a solid game. I am little disappointed though I gave my all in the end but it wasn't enough. He was just a better player today," a crestfallen Sen said.

"It is a big tournament, it would hurt probably more, but we have some big tournaments coming up, so will prepare for that."

Sindhu, who is chasing an unprecedented sixth world championship medal, secured a 21-16 21-17 win over Canada's Wen Yu Zhang to enter the last-16.

The 2019 world Champion, seeded ninth, will face China's third seed Wang Zhi Yi next.

Shetty brushed aside Sri Lanka's Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-8 21-10 to set up a clash with a formidable opponent in Indonesia's Alwi Farhan.

Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after receiving a walkover in their opening match.

The fifth-seeded Indians, who have already won two bronze medals at the World Championships, had received a first-round bye and were scheduled to face Scotland's Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle in the second round.

However, the Scottish pair withdrew at the last moment after Dunn suffered a right ankle injury while playing his mixed doubles match earlier in the day.

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after defeating Macau's Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi 21-11 21-11.

Young Unnati Hooda, making her debut at the prestigious tournament, also bowed out after squandering an opening-game advantage, losing 21-11 9-21 21-23 to 12th seed Michelle Li of Canada in the women's singles.

Men's doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also went down 17-21 14-21 to Korea's Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju.

Sen vs Tan

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Sen was troubled by Tan's pace and attacking play, with the American making good use of his overhead smashes. He repeatedly targeted the Indian's backhand rear corner and used jump smashes and deception to disrupt his opponent.

Tan raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening game, but the contest soon turned into a slugfest as the players moved from 5-5 to 18-18. Sen then managed to gain the upper hand and take the game.

After the change of ends, Tan stepped up his attack and dominated the rallies. He led 4-0 and maintained control throughout the game.

Sen attempted a comeback, reaching 15-20, and saved four game points before Tan finally sealed the game to level the match.

In the decider, Tan took control early, surging to a 12-4 lead.

Sen, however, found a second wind and fought back to 15-17, with the 17th point coming after an intense rally that ended with Tan falling awkwardly and was hit on his head as he took a medical timeout.

"I went for the slide and then I hit my head a little bit and wasn't feeling really well because that happened in my previous match a couple of weeks ago and same thing happened."

Tan responded with a jump smash to make it 18-16.

Sen then served long before Tan unleashed a cross-court smash to earn four match points.

A flurry of smashes kept Sen alive, but he slipped while approaching a shot at the front court on the next rally, allowing Tan to put the shuttle away and celebrate a memorable victory.

Sen, who had taken little time off to address his wounded leg before addressing the media, said: "There were lot of dives, I stretched my leg, it was tough match."

"He was quite dominant. I was always playing the covering up, I had my chances, he was taking the points. I was playing under pressure a lot of times.

"I mean both the sides were pretty even today, all the games were close so I don't think there was any clear advantage, the rallies were long, drift was not playing a big role. He was quite solid on his defence and attack, so I wasn't getting much chances."

Denmark's Rasmus Gemke also created a big upset with a 13-21 21-17 21-11 thrashing of All England champion and world No 12 Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei, while Denmark's Anders Antonsen, seeded fourth, survived a 102-minute marathon against Ireland's Nat Nguyen 21-23 21-19 23-21 in another match.

Former World Champion Ratchanok Inthanon suffered an injury and was forced to withdraw against USA's Ishika Jaiswal while leading 21-17 7-11 in another match.