The Indian challenge in men’s singles category at the India Open 2023 ended on Thursday as ace shuttler Lakshya Sen crashed out in the second round to Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke in a three-game thriller. The Danish World No.20 defeated Sen 16-21, 21-15, 21-18 at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in Delhi, thus ending the Indian hopes for a podium finish in men’s singles.
Earlier, HS Prannoy was defeated by Sen in an all-Indian first-round match, while Kidambi Srikanth also faced an opening-round exit at the hands of World No.1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Sen did make a strong start to the match, producing a series of attacking shots early on to take a 11-9 lead at the first mid-game break. Lakshya’s strategy to play Danish Gemke close to the net worked well as he took the first game 21-15. At the change of ends, Gemke made a strong comeback to draw level in the second round match.
Gemke continued his momentum in the deciding game, racing to an 8-1 lead before Lakshya mounted a brilliant comeback, taking five points in a row to draw closer to the Danish star shuttler. Despite a series of unforced errors by the Indian shuttler, the game remained intense when at 19-18, Gemke took two successive points to seal a place in the quarterfinals.
Gemke will now take on compatriot Viktor Axelsen, who defeated Y Q Shi in three games.
Lakshya has thus failed to defend his India Open title and the Indian shuttler rued the lost opportunities following the loss.
“Very disappointing start in the third set. Going 1-8 down was not acceptable. I could’ve taken a break. I had played well to cover up the game, but in the whole game, I kept covering up,” Lakshya said in the mixed zone following the match.
“Few decisions here and there cost me. Could’ve played more bravely. There were silly errors in the third game. I covered up well but could’ve done better.
“This one was a bit hard to take because I was close. I felt really bad about the last point,” said the Indian shuttler.
