Badminton
Hylo Open 2025: Lakshya Sen, Shriyanshi Valishetty beat higher ranked players
Kiran George beat Kidambi Srikanth in an all-India men's singles first round clash.
Lakshya Sen in action during a tournament. (File Photo)
Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen took down world No 7 Christo Popov in the men's singles opening round of the 2025 Hylo Open Super 500 on Wednesday.
Sen, who has blown hot and cold this season, registered a straight games 21-16, 22-20 win in 47 minutes over the Frenchman.
Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Shriyanshi Valishetty recorded a shock 21-19, 21-12 win against the third seeded Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in the women's singles opening round.
Kjaersfeldt is ranked 21st in the world, compared to Valishetty's world No 48 spot.
Valishetty's first round win will pit her against fellow Indian Rakshita Ramraj in the Round of 16 on Thursday.
Rakshita also defeated Clara Azurmendi of Spain 21-14, 21-16 in straight games.
In the other women's singles matches, Anmol Kharb faced a heartbreaking 24-26, 21-23 loss at the hands of the eighth seeded Julie Jakobsen whereas Aakarshi Kashyap went down 15-21, 15-21 to Turkey's N Arin.
Meanwhile, in an all-India men's singles clash the young Kiran George outplayed veteran Kidambi Srikanth for a 21-19, 21-11 win in 33 minutes.
Sankar Muthusamy also booked his spot in the men's singles Round of 16 with a hard fought 21-14, 18-21, 21-16 win over Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia.
Later in the day, Ayush Shetty, Tharun Mannepalli, Tanya Hemanth, the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde, and the men's doubles pair of Sai Pratheek and Pruthvi Roy will also be in action for India.
