India Open 2023: Rasmus Gemke knocks out defending champion Lakshya Sen

New Delhi: World Number 12 Lakshya Sen was stunned by Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the pre-quarter-finals of the ongoing India Open at Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi.

India's sole hope in the men's singles category and defending champion, Lakshya Sen lost to the Dane in a marathon match of 80 minutes by 21-16, 15-21, 18-21.

Lakshya started the first game well and he had it in control since the start.

Both the players exchanged the first few points equally and Lakshya started hitting some winners and had a lead of 6-5.

A few cross-court shots and unforced errors from Gemke meant Lakshya went with an 11-9 lead in the mid-game break. Lakshya returned with some magic in his wrists as he dropped two shots magically beyond Gemke's reach to lead 15-11.

It took a searing smash from Lakshya to win the first game 21-16.

Although, Gemke made a brilliant comeback defeating Lakshya 21-15 in the second game.

The deciding game went on for a long time as both players gave it all. Gemke started well in the second game and took an 8-1 lead as Lakshya looked Shaky.

Lakshya made an immediate comeback with 5 points on the trot and it took him to 6-8.

Gemke again stacked up a 6-point lead and he was leading 13-7. Lakshya started fighting well and stretched Gemke till the last moment with his smashes and drops.

At the score of 19-18, Gemke's smash took a deflection from the net and fell in Sen's half awarding him the match point. Lakshya sank to his knees as the shuttled dropped outside of the baseline and the crowd went silent with Gemke roaring.

Talking to the media about the loss in the mixed zone, Lakshya Sen said, " This one was a bit hard to take because I was close. I felt really bad about the last point and the crowd was also cheering me."

Very disappointing start in the third set. Going 1-8 down was not acceptable. I was chasing the game through out and had to cover up all the time," he concluded.

With Saina Nehwal losing in her match against Chen Yu Fei, the Indian challenge at India Open has ended in round of 16.