The Indian challenge at the India Open 2023 came to a drastic end after CWG gold medalist Lakshya Sen and former champion Saina Nehwal got defeated in their respective matches on Thursday.
Lakshya won the opening game, but Rasmus Gemke from Denmark made a strong comeback engaging the Indian in long rallies to win 21-16-,15-21-,18-21. The second-round clash between Sen and Gemke was indeed a thrilling contest. The match lasted for an hour and 21 minutes. Later, Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China beat Saina Nehwal 9-21, 12-21 in the women’s singles second-round clash in India Open 2023.
On the other hand, in the double events, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled out of the tournament due to an injury to the former. Chirag told PTI,
“Satwik pulled his left hip adductor, so decided to concede the match,”
CWG bronze medalists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly also got defeated by sixth seeds Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu of China 9-21, 16-21. On the other hand, Krishna and Vishuvardhan lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 14-21, 10-21.
In a high-voltage quarterfinal, Gemke will now face top seed and compatriot Viktor Axelsen who defeated China’s Shi Yu Qi 21-16, 16-21, 21-9 earlier in the day.
