Badminton World championships: Ayush, Sindhu have it easy; lacklustre Lakshya suffers a shock defeat

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Sindhu broke no sweat during her victory over Zhang. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

When Garret Tan took a medical timeout leading 17-16 in the decider, it looked like Lakshya Sen would finally get the stroke of luck he so desperately needed.

Instead, the 18-year-old American of Taiwanese descent would jump, smash and punch his way to the biggest win of his career so far. He packed off the home favourite 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 in an hour and 13 minutes in the second round of the badminton World championships here on Wednesday.

Having scraped through his opening-round match, Lakshya, ranked 14th and a bronze medallist at the global tournament, was expected to have an easy outing against the World No. 92 Tan.

But, on a day Ayush Shetty had an easier time than in his sparring sessions and P.V. Sindhu broke little sweat to reach the pre-quarterfinals, Lakshya floundered against an opponent who did not allow him any space or momentum.

The contest was as much in the mind as on the court. Tan, a former junior World No. 1, packed power in his overhead and cross-court smashes that often left Lakshya stranded in the middle. He was equally impressive with his drops but the Indian managed to edge ahead by taking the opening game.

Leading 11-8 in the second game, Tan capitalised on his opponent’s mistakes at the net with high lifts to the back of the court. Every time Lakshya looked to get a foothold, his rival unleashed smashing winners.

Tan raced to a 11-4 advantage in the decider and it looked all over for Lakshya before the Indian rode on crowd support to come within striking distance. But the American’s timeout followed by a series of jump smashes ended hopes.

Ayush, meanwhile, wrapped up his match against Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-8, 21-10 in 25 minutes and Sindhu took 10 more minutes to beat Canadian Wen Yu Zhang 21-16, 21-17 to set up a clash with Wang Zhiyi (China). Unnati Hooda, however, went down fighting 21-11, 9-21, 21-23 to 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada.

In doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced with a 21-11, 21-11 win against Lok Chong Leong and Weng Chi Ng of Macau. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got a walkover after the Scottish pair of Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle withdrew following Dunn’s injury.

Men: Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Cheuk Yiu Lee (Hkg) 15-21, 21-17, 21-15; Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Giovanni Toti (Ita) 21-12, 21-11; Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Jia Heng Teh (Sin) 19-21, 21-19, 21-11; Rasmus Gemke (Den) bt Chun-Yi Lin (Tpe) 13-21, 21-17, 21-11; Li Shifeng (Chn) bt Jun Hao Leong (Mas) 21-19, 21-19; Garret Tan (USA) bt Lakshya Sen 19-21, 21-19, 21-17; Ayush Shetty bt Dumindu Abeywickrama (SL) 21-8, 21-10. Doubles: Fajar Alfian & Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Eloi Adam & Leo Rossi (Fra) 21-14, 21-13; Kang Min Hyuk & Ki Dong Ju (Kor) bt Hariharan Amsakarunan & M.R.