Badminton
All England Open: Lakshya Sen and Malvika Bansod advance
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy crashed out on the opening day.
HS Prannoy was beaten by France’s Toma Junior Popov. (Photo credit)
The All England Open Badminton Championships 2025 began at Birmingham on Tuesday.
Several Indians were in the fray in the opening round of the Super 1000 event and as results started to trickle in, there was double delight on the singles roster.
Lakshya Sen and Malvika Bansod registered victories in the respective singles encouters.
Lakshya, ranked 15th in the world, came from behind to defeat Chinese Taipei’s world No. 37, Su Li Yang in a gritty performance with the score line reading 13-21, 21-17, 21-15.
The 23-year-old will now take on Indonesia's third seed Jonatan Christie in next round.
In the women's singles, Malvika Bansod pulled off a stunning 21-13, 10-21, 21-17 victory over Singapore's Yeo Jia Min (ranked 12 in the world) in a one hour and three minutes encounter to progress through to round two.
However, HS Prannoy crashed out of the men's singles draw earlier in the day.
The Indian, despite putting up a spirited show, was beaten by France’s Toma Junior Popov 19-21, 16-21.
The first game was a keenly contested affair and witnessed the Popov, ranked 18 in the world, pipping Prannoy 21-19.
The Indian did have his chances in the first game but failed to convert them.
With the first game in the pocket, the Frenchman seized the initiative in the second game, wrapping it up 21-16 to close out the match in 53 minutes.
This was a second first round exit of the year for Prannoy, who had suffered the same fate at the India Open Super 750 back in January in front of his home crowd.
HS Prannoy succumbed in straight games. (Photo credit: BWF)
Elsewhere, the Indian mixed doubles pair of Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath faced defeat in the opening round as well.
They were beaten 6-21, 15-21 by China's Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui in straight games.
Other Indians in the fray on opening day include Lakshya Sen (6:10 pm IST), Malvika Bansod (6:50 pm IST) and Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa (9:30 pm IST).
You can follow the live updates from day one of the The All England Open Badminton Championships 2025 on thebridge.in
More to follow…
