Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth had polar opposite finishes in their respective matches at the ongoing German Open Super 300 badminton tournament, the USD 180,000 event which is taking place in Mülheim an der Ruhr in Germany from 8th March onwards.
World no 14 Lakshya Sen, the World Championships bronze medallist produced a stunning performance against fellow compatriot HS Prannoy in an all-Indian affair at the quarterfinals on Friday. The 20-year-old, who had already defeated Prannoy at the last eight stage of India Open as well, earned a 21-15, 21-16 straight set victory over the former top 10 player in a 39-minute match to advance into the last four.
Even though it was Prannoy who took a 4-0 in the early moments of the match, Sen was able to make it 10-10, before turning the first set to his advantage. The second set saw a neck to neck tussle between the two, but Sen managed a five-point lead from a 11-10 score at the break to finish with another comfortable win.
On the other hand, Kidambi Srikanth’s run came to a jolting half against former world champion Viktor Axelsen, the world no 1 who outplayed Srikanth to a 21-10, 23-21 straight set victory under 35 minutes.
The Danish paddler took an early lead in the match, zooming past Srikanth to a 17-4 lead before finishing the first set 21-10. The Indian, who was on his first event since recovering from COVID-19, fought back well in the second set, taking a three-point advantage from 12-12, but Axelsen still managed to gallop ahead in the final moments to edge out Srikanth to a close 23-21 finish.
Sen and Axelsen will now be seen in action against one another in the semis on Saturday.
Highlights:
- Lakshya Sen defeated HS Prannoy 21-15, 21-16 to reach the semis of the German Open Super 300 badminton tournament while Kidambi Srikanth’s run ended with a 10-21, 21-23 loss against Viktor Axelsen
- Sen and Axelsen will now face one another in the semis on Saturday
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