India's Lakshya Sen fought his way back to reach the second round of the All England Championships on Tuesday, while compatriot HS Prannoy was eliminated in the opening round of the men's singles competition in Birmingham.
Lakshya, ranked 15th in the world, came from behind to defeat Chinese Taipei’s world No. 37, SU Li Yang, with a 13-21, 21-17, 21-15 win in the opening round of the Super 1000 event. The 23-year-old from Almora will face Indonesia's third seed Jonatan Christie next. Lakshya had defeated Christie en route to his fourth place finish at the Paris Olympics last year.
Prannoy, a bronze medallist at the 2023 World Championships and Asian Games, struggled against France's Toma Junior Popov, who is ranked 17th. Prannoy fought for 53 minutes before going down 19-21, 16-21.
In the mixed doubles, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath had a tough outing against China’s world No. 7 pair of Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui, losing 6-21, 15-21 in 51 minutes. Whereas 23-year-old Malvika Bansod defeated Singapore's Yeo Jia Min 21-13, 10-21, 21-17.
After losing the first game, Lakshya and Yang battled fiercely till 17-17 in the second game, with the Indian taking advantage of three errors from Yang at the net to register four straight points and roar back into the contest.
In the decider, Lakshya led 11-9 at the interval, and though Yang drew level at 15-15, Lakshya finished strong, winning the last six points with a body blow, two powerful returns, and a few more mistakes from Yang.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Prannoy, ranked 29th, had his chances in the opening game, leading 6-1 and 15-12, but faltered in the face of the relentless pressure of Popov, who turned the game around from 16-18 to 19-18 before taking the game. Popov grew in confidence after the change of ends, moving from 5-3 to 13-9. Prannoy fought back to level at 13-13, but Popov surged ahead as the Indian crumbled.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and former world no.1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty start their campaign on Wednesday.
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