Badminton, All England Open: Lakshya Sen advances to quarters; PV Sindhu, Ashwini-Tanisha bow out

Indian men’s singles shuttler Lakshya Sen, on Thursday, advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2024 All England Open Super 1000 in Birmingham.

Up against world No 3 Anders Antonsen of Demark, the Indian triumphed 24-22, 11-21, 21-14 in contest which lasted an hour and 20 minutes.

Sen, ranked 18th in the world, did not have it easy against the higher-ranked opponent. He trailed 2-8 in the decider and 6-11 at the change of ends before turning his fortunes around in a spirited fightback.

Earlier, Sen had started well in the match as he opened up an 11-9 lead at the first mid-game interval. The Indian extended the lead to four points at 15-11 post the break with some exquisite net play, but the Danish shuttler kept the pressure on.

Even as Sen opened up two game points, Antonsen equalised. It took the 22-year-old from Almora three more game points to convert the a hard-fought first game.

With the advantage of playing from the better end of the court in the second game, Antonsen bounced back. The fourth seed led 7-11 at the mid-game break and tightened the screws even further as Sen conceded the second game rather tamely at 11-21.

The complete loss in momentum continued into the decider for Sen as...

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