Lakshya Sen withdraws from Swiss Open
Other Sports | March 21, 2022 15:14 ISTAll England Championships finalist Lakshya Sen on Monday pulled out of the Swiss Open Super 300 tournament to get some rest after two weeks of gruelling badminton.
All England Championships finalist Lakshya Sen on Monday pulled out of the Swiss Open Super 300 tournament to get some rest after two weeks of gruelling badminton.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand's splendid run at the All England Badminton Championships ended with a straight game defeat against Shu Xian Zhang and Yu Zheng in the women's doubles event.
World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen showed nerves of steel as he stunned defending champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia to book a maiden final berth in the All England Badminton Championships on Saturday.
Unseeded Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand on Friday became the first Indian pair to reach the semifinals of All England championships, joining in-form Lakshya Sen, who too reached the last four round of the men's singles competition.
Sixth seed Sindhu beat Zhi Yi Wang of China 21-18 21-13 in her first round match that lasted 42 minutes while Saina defeated Beatriz Corrales of Spain 21-17 21-19 in 38 minutes.
The top Indian players, including Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to lift the prestigious trophy with Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Prakash Padukone (1980) still remaining the only two Indians to claim the coveted title.
Before exiting at the All England Championships in the semis to her Thai rival Chochuwong, Sindhu pulled off a genius cross-court shot against Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals.
The world No. 7 Indian had also lost at the semifinal at the 2018 edition as well.
In a quarter-final match, Sindhu beat Akane 16-21, 21-16, 21-19 in one hour and 16 minutes in the Super 1000 tournament.
The withdrawal of the Indonesian players will deplete the field, which has already been affected after Chinese, Koreans and Chinese Taipei shuttlers decided not to compete in the Super 1000 event.
Fifth seed Sindhu will kick off her campaign with a clash against Malaysia's Soniia Cheah and is likely to face Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals.
Prakash Padukone raced to the final without dropping a single game to face Indonesian legend Lee Swie King.
The second-seeded Axelsen, a former world champion, beat Chinese Taipei's top seed Chou Tien-chen 21-13 21-14 in a lop-sided final to add another feather to his hat.
Before the coronavirus crisis caused mass cancellations and postponements in the last three days, March was to be a busy sports month. But as things stand now, there is no live action there for the fans once the All England Championships of badminton wind up in Birmingham.
Barring the ongoing All England Championships, all badminton events have suspended until April 12.
Sindhu next meets the winner of the round of 16 match between fourth-seeded Nozomi Okuhara of Japan and Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark.
The government on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus as cases across India rose to more than 60.
Saina Nehwal's chances of qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics took a big hit after her first-round 11-21 8-21 loss to Akane Yamaguchi at the All England Championships.
The season's first Super 1000 event witnessed a dramatic build-up in the wake of the COVID19 outbreak, which has claimed over 4000 lives and infected more than 100,000 people globally.
PV Sindhu feels she would have to give her 100 per cent in England in to win the women's singles title.
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