Lakshya Sen Fights Back to Reach World Championships Round Two

Lakshya Sen recovered from a slow start to defeat Collins Valentine Filimon 16-21, 21-8, 21-4 and reach the second round of the men’s singles at the BWF World Championships in New Delhi on Tuesday. The Indian shuttler needed 45 minutes to turn around his opening match after dropping the first game.

India also had success in women’s doubles, where the unseeded Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand upset 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee of the United States 21-15, 21-12. Their 38-minute victory sent them into the pre-quarterfinals.

Sen’s win keeps his World Championships campaign moving after an uneven opening game, while Treesa and Gayatri produced one of the day’s notable Indian results against a seeded pairing.

Sen turns opening-round contest around

Sen initially struggled to settle against Filimon. The first game remained close before Sen lost six consecutive points to fall 12-17 behind, with sloppy play and unforced errors proving costly. Although he pulled back some points, Filimon kept the shuttle in court and drew further errors to take the opener 21-16.

The momentum changed early in the second game. The pair were level at 7-7 before Sen moved ahead 11-8 with a more attacking approach. From there, he won 10 points in a row, leaving Filimon with little opportunity to respond as Sen levelled the match with a commanding 21-8 game.

Sen carried that control into the decider. Maintaining his aggressive game, he forced more errors and surged to a 15-1 advantage. The Indian closed out the third game 21-4 to complete a decisive comeback.

Sen will next face Garret Tan of the United States. Tan reached the second round after beating Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi 21-4, 21-15.

In another Indian singles result, Unnati Hooda advanced in women’s singles with a 22-20, 21-16 win over Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar in 40 minutes. Hooda is due to play 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada next.

Treesa and Gayatri deliver seeded-pair upset

Treesa and Gayatri began confidently against Lam and Lee and took the first game 21-15. Jolly’s smashes helped finish rallies, while Gayatri kept the shuttle in play and used drop shots effectively as the Indian pair established control.

The second game followed a similar pattern. Treesa and Gayatri raced to an 11-4 lead at the interval and continued their attacking display. Their line judgements and quick hands were central as they completed the straight-games victory, 21-12.

There was also disappointment for another Indian women’s doubles team. Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi lost 7-21, 14-21 to Bulgaria’s ninth-seeded Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva in the second round, with the match lasting 32 minutes.

India’s mixed doubles campaign had mixed results. Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde lost 20-22, 21-19, 17-21 to Canada’s Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Crystal Lai. Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh were beaten 16-21, 30-29, 22-24 by Turkey’s Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas. Fifteenth seeds Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto remain in the draw and will play Macau’s Iok Chong Leong and Weng Chi NG after receiving an opening-round bye.