Lakshya Sen & HS Prannoy book their spot for the Second Round Of the BWF World Championships

Indian badminton stars, HS Prannoy, and Lakshya Sen progressed to the men's singles second round of the BWF World Championships. HS Prannoy registered a comfortable victory over Finland's Kalle Koljonen while Lakshya Sen won against Mauritius' Georges Julien Paul in Copenhagen, Denmark on Monday. The world's number 9, Prannoy reached the quarterfinals in the last two editions. He got the better of the left-handed Koljonen 24-22, 21-10. Meanwhile, Lakshya, the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist, outplayed Julien Paul 21-12, 21-7 in just 24 minutes to follow Prannoy into the second round. Lakshya Sen is likely to meet Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin, while Prannoy might face Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo next.

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BWF World Championships: What happened in the matches?

Prannoy came back from behind to win seven straight points to grab an 11-8 lead at the break. A calm Prannoy saved all three game points before hitting wide to once again hand over the advantage to his rival. Koljonen couldn't capitalise as he hit long and lost a net duel to gift the lead to Prannoy, who converted with a brutal cross-court smash.

The second game started on an equal level but Prannoy opened up a six-point lead at the break with a straight smash. Koljonen found it hard to catch Prannoy, who soon gained 12 match points after Koljonen smashed wide. Then, he finished with a straight smash.

Lakshya Sen, who had defeated Paul en route to his CWG gold, had no issues beating him once again. He opened up an 11-3 lead and though Paul managed to make it 8-12, the Indian soon changed gears to seal the opening game. Sen continued the momentum after the change of sides as it turned out to be an extremely lop-sided contest with the Indian gaining a 13-2 lead. Eventually, Paul hit out twice to hand over the match to Sen.