Lakshya bows out, Indian challenge ends at India Open

Lakshya Sen paid the price for inconsistency and inability to control the shuttle as well as the pace of the match and bowed out of the India Open Super 750 event on Friday, bringing an end to the home challenge.

Lakshya lost 21-17, 13-21, 18-21 to Taiwan’s Chun-Yi Lin in the quarterfinals — his fourth loss in as many face-offs, including the 2025 edition here.

The Indian had a shaky start and kept hitting wide, unable to counter the drift. When he found his rhythm, he started taking the pace off at the net and avoiding going too deep. That helped him take the first game. However, the Taiwanese upped the ante in the second game with quick returns, controlling the points with a mix of powerful smashes and delicate drops at the net. He reeled off nine straight points to move from 2-5 to 11-5, not giving Lakshya a chance. Despite the third game being close and Lakshya taking three-point leads twice, Lin was never in trouble. Once he nosed ahead, he sealed the contest at the first opportunity. He will take on Canadia’s Victor Lai next.

World No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn fell to Loh Kean Yew in three games, the Singaporean tasting only his second success in their 10 meetings, the previous one dating back to 2015.

Loh’s reward will be a clash against Indonesian Jonatan Christie, another player he has never defeated on the World Tour in eight previous attempts.

In the women’s section, Korean World No. 1 An Se Young continued her march with a 21-16, 21-8 win over Putra Kusuma Wardani. She will take on Ratchanok Intanon in a repeat of their semifinal here last year, seeking her 13th win in 14 matches. Zhi Yi Wang and Chen Yu Fei will face off in an all-Chinese clash in the other semifinal.

Important results: Friday: Quarterfinal: Men: Chun-Yi Lin (Tpe) bt Lakshya Sen 17-21, 21-13, 21-18.

Thursday: Second round: Men: Lakshya bt Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 21-19, 21-10; Christo Popov (Fra) bt K. Srikanth 21-14, 17-21, 21-17; Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt H.S. Prannoy 18-21, 21-19, 21-14.

Doubles: Wei Keng Liang & Chang Wang (Chn) bt Hariharan Amsakarunan & M.R. Arjun 21-15, 21-15; Hiroki Midorikawa & Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Chirag Shetty & Satwiksairaj Rankireddy 25-27, 23-21, 21-19.

Women: Yue Han (Chn) bt Malvika Bansod 21-18, 21-15.

Doubles: Yi Jing Li & Xu Min Luo (Chn) bt Treesa Jolly & Gayatri Gopichand 20-22, 24-22, 23-21.