Lakshya Sen and Malvika Bansod disappoint in first round of Denmark Open

After a tough three games, India's Lakshya Sen was eliminated from the Denmark Open Super 750 competition despite his tremendous efforts. The match took place in the first round against China's Lu Guang Ju.

The 22-year-old from Almora lost the 70-minute match on Tuesday, despite taking an early lead, 21-12, 19-21, 14-21.

Bronze medallist Lakshya from the 2021 World Championships got things going early for her. He took the initiative and led 11–9 at the mid-game break, having equaled his Chinese opponent 8–8.

The Indians quickly jumped out to a seven-point lead, leading to a 20-11 advantage, and went on to win the first game 21-12 with ease. Lakshya appeared in command and jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the second game. 

The determined Chinese shuttler turned the match around, leveling the score at 19-19 and forcing the deciding game by winning the final two points, despite Lakshya's best efforts to hold the lead.

Lu took charge in the third game and led 14–9 while Lakshya found it difficult to sustain the lead. Lu maintained the advantage, taking advantage of the Indian team's mistakes to score six match points and eventually sealing the victory with a missed shot by Lakshya.

Lakshya, who just suffered a setback in the second round of the Arctic Open in Finland, is yet again disappointed. Lakshya, who is competing in his second event since placing fourth at the Olympics in Paris, was anticipated to perform well in Denmark; however, he will now need to re-equip for competitions in the future.

Other results showed that Malvika Bansod of India also lost badly, going down 13-21, 12-21 against Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam in the women's singles. Meanwhile, in their opening round women's doubles match, Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun of Chinese Taipei defeated the Panda sisters Rutaparna and Shwetaparna 18-21, 22-24, despite a valiant effort.