Yonex All England Open 2023: Lakshya Sen's journey ends after losing to Anders Antonsen

Lakshya Sen crashed out in men's singles of Yonex All England Open 2023 after losing to Anders Antonsen of Denmark in straight games at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Thursday.

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Sen, who had made it to the final last time, looked out of touch at any point against Anders Antonsen of Denmark and went down 13-21, 15-21 in 52 minutes. A defeat in the last-16 will cost Sen ranking points. Former world No. 6 had also made a first-round exit at the German Open.

The Indian shuttler started the match on a positive note. But once both the shuttlers were level at 11-11, two-time World Championship medalist Anders Antonsen won 10 of the next 12 points to take a 1-0 lead. World Championship bronze medalist Lakshya Sen made a comeback to lead Anders Antonsen by six points at the second break. However, a series of consecutive points saw the Dane race ahead and take the match in 52 minutes.

Meanwhile, returning from injury, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy teamed up with his partner Chirag Shetty. But their clash ended with a lost of 21-10, 17-21, 19-21 to Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. With this, the Indian pair had to be out of the Yonex All England Open 2023.

Men's singles players HS Prannoy, and Kidambi Srikanth also lost in their round of 16 matches at the Yonex All England Open 2023. HS Prannoy went down to world No. 3 Indonesian shuttler Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 22-20, 15-21, 21-17. Kidambi Srikanth faced a 21-17, 21-15 defeat at the hands of world No. 6 Japanese shuttler Kodai Naraoka.

Meanwhile, Indian players Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand continued their stellar run at the Yonex All England Open 2023. They advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time in a row. In 2022, the pair of Treesa and Gayatri reached the semi-finals. In women's doubles, the Indian pair defeated world number one pair of Japan's Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in straight games 21-14, 24-22 in just 50 minutes.

Also Read: Lakshya Sen, Vandana Katariya in Forbes 30-Under-30

This is one of the biggest wins of the Indian pair's career. Fukushima and Hirota have also been silver medalists of the World Championships. This is Trisha and Gayathri's third win against a top-10 pairing in less than a month. In the second round, the Indian pair took a nine-point lead but the Japanese pair made a comeback. Fukushima and Hirota saved three match points to put the pressure on the Indian pair. Although Treesa and Gayatri were advised by coach Mathias Boe, who was sitting outside the badminton court, to remain calm, the Indian pair won the sixth match point.

Earlier, Treesa and Gayatri had defeated world number eight pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Ravinda Prajongjai 21-18, 21-14 in the first round. Last year too, the pair reached the semi-finals where they lost to China's Zheng Yu and Zhang Shuxian.