All England Championships: Lakshya advances, Prannoy out

LAKSHYA SEN fought his way back to reach the second round of the All England Championships on Tuesday (11), while compatriot HS Prannoy was eliminated in the opening round of the men's singles competition in Birmingham.

In the mixed doubles, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath had a tough outing against China’s world No. 7 pair of Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui, losing 6-21, 15-21 in 51 minutes.

Lakshya, ranked 15th in the world, came from behind to defeat Chinese Taipei’s world No. 37, SU Li Yang, with a 13-21, 21-17, 21-15 win in the opening round of the Super 1000 event.

The 23-year-old from Almora will face Indonesia's third seed Jonatan Christie next.

Lakshya had defeated Christie in the Paris Olympics last year, where he reached the fourth position.

After losing the first game, Lakshya and Yang battled fiercely till 17-17 in the second game, with the Indian taking advantage of three errors from Yang at the net to register four straight points and roar back into the contest.

In the decider, Lakshya led 11-9 at the interval, and though Yang drew level at 15-15, Lakshya finished strong, winning the last six points with a body blow, two powerful returns, and a few more mistakes from Yang.

Earlier in the day, Prannoy, ranked 29th, a bronze medallist at the 2023 World Championships and Asian Games, struggled against France's Toma Junior Popov, who is ranked 17th.

Prannoy fought for 53 minutes before going down 19-21, 16-21.

The 32-year-old Prannoy had his chances in the opening game, leading 6-1 and 15-12, but faltered in the face of the relentless pressure of Popov, who turned the game around from 16-18 to 19-18 before taking the game.

Popov grew in confidence after the change of ends, moving from 5-3 to 13-9. Prannoy fought back to level at 13-13, but Popov surged ahead as the Indian crumbled.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and former world no.1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will start their campaign on Wednesday.

Since Prakash Padukone’s historic win in 1980 and Pullela Gopichand’s triumph in 2001, no Indian has managed to capture the coveted All England title - one of the sport’s most prestigious crowns after the Olympics and World Championships.

Saina Nehwal and Lakshya came close in 2015 and 2022, finishing as runners-up, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand reached the semifinals in consecutive editions. (PTI)