New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI): Former champion Lakshya Sen relied on his sturdy defence and injection of tempo to defeat Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto whereas Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy’s impressed performances weren’t sufficient within the second spherical of the India Open 2026, a BWF World Tour Super 750 occasion being organised by the Badminton Association of India, on the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium right here on Thursday, as per a launch.
Sen packed off Nishimoto 21-19, 21-11 to advance to the quarterfinals after Srikanth had gone down 21-14, 17-21, 21-17 in opposition to BWF World Tour Finals winner Christo Popov of France, and Prannoy misplaced to eighth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 18-21, 21-19, 21-14.
India’s problem within the girls’s singles additionally got here to an finish after Chinese fifth seed Han Yue accounted for Malvika Bansod 21-18, 21-15.
The going was powerful even for Sen within the preliminary phases of the primary sport in opposition to Nishimoto because the Indian was struggling to search out his rhythm and size of his strokes. The Indian Oil worker trailed the Japanese 11-16 within the opening sport after which 14-18 however saved on participating his opponent in lengthy rallies and got here up with some good defensive strokes to parry Nishimoto’s smashes to claw again.
He received 5 straight factors to take the lead after which wrapped up the opening sport on the very first alternative.
Sen was far more medical within the second sport, various his tempo and going for the kill each time he discovered a chance. As he grew in confidence, the 24-year-old combined his half smashes with intelligent reserve drops to maintain his opponent guessing and sealed his quarterfinal spot in 50 minutes.
‘At the beginning of the opening sport I used to be fighting my rhythm a bit and was lifting quick and that permitting him to assault extra. But then I began lifting the shuttle longer and targeted on defending properly and I feel that turned the primary sport,’ stated Lakshya, as quoted from a launch.
He will subsequent face Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi, who defeated Nhat Nguyen of Ireland 21-16, 21-17.
‘In the second sport, I knew I couldn’t give him the chance to maintain taking part in his sport and so combined my pace and it labored,’ he added.
In the day’s different matches, Prannoy received the opening sport in opposition to Loh and saved three sport factors within the second to come back near an upset win. But as soon as the previous world champion pressured a decider, he raised the tempo of the match and the Indian wasn’t capable of match the strategic probability of his opponent.
Earlier, Srikanth additionally gave glimpses of his attacking talents in opposition to Popov however couldn’t overcome the problem of France’s first World Tour Finals males’s singles champion. (ANI)