Sindhu advances after Lakshya, Malvika crash out in Denmark Open

NEW DELHI: Lakshya Sen, India's rising badminton star, suffered a disappointing defeat against China's Lu Guang Zu in the opening round of the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament in Odense on Tuesday.

Despite winning the first game, the 22-year-old from Almora couldn't maintain his momentum, eventually losing the match 21-12, 19-21, 14-21 in a grueling 70-minute encounter.

Sen, who had previously clinched a bronze medal at the 2021 World Championship and finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, had also faced an early exit in the Arctic Open in Finland last week.

On the other hand, PV Sindhu, India's double Olympic medallist, progressed to the second round after her opponent, Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei, retired midway through the second game with the score at 21-8, 13-7 in Sindhu's favor.

However, several other Indian shuttlers faced early exits from the tournament. Malvika Bansod, who had impressed with a quarterfinal finish at the China Open, couldn't overcome Vietnam's Nguyen Thuy Linh, losing 13-21, 12-21 in the women's singles opening round.

Aakarshi Kashyap also suffered a similar fate, going down 13-21, 12-21 against seventh-seeded Thai shuttler Supanida Katethong.

In the women's doubles category, the Panda sisters, Rutaparna and Swetaparna, were knocked out in the first round after a close battle against Chinese Taipei's Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun, losing 18-21, 22-24.