Team Goemkarponn
Panaji: Australian Open Super 500, Friday: Lakshya Sen showcased resilience and skill to overcome Ayush Shetty and secure a spot in the men’s singles semifinals, while India’s top-seeded men’s doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, bowed out of the tournament.
Seventh-seeded Sen, who had previously defeated 20-year-old Shetty at the Hong Kong Open earlier this year, won 23-21, 21-11 to set up a semifinal clash against Chinese-Taipei’s second seed Chou Tien Chen. Chou, ranked world No. 9 and a 2018 Asian Games silver medallist, had advanced after a grueling 1 hour 23-minute win over Farhan Alwi, 13-21, 23-21, 21-16.
The first game was tightly contested, with Sen trailing 6-9 early on. The Almora shuttler gradually clawed back to lead 11-10 at the break and eventually closed out the opener 23-21 after Ayush squandered a game point. The second game was largely dominated by Sen, who raced to a 6-1 lead that extended to 15-7, before sealing the match in 53 minutes.
Meanwhile, Satwik and Chirag, finalists at the Hong Kong Open and China Masters, were eliminated by the fifth-seeded Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, who won 21-19, 21-15.
With the early exits of senior Indian shuttlers Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth on Thursday, Lakshya Sen remains India’s sole contender in the men’s singles draw.
