Lakshya Sen Beats HS Prannoy; Satwik-Chirag Pair Advance to BWF Super 500 Quarters

On Thursday, Lakshya Sen defeated compatriot HS Prannoy in the men's singles category. In the men's doubles to make it to the quarter-finals, the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Thailand's Peerachai Sukphun and Pakkapon Tiratsakul. Competing at the Coliseum here today, India's top player and world No. 20 Lakshya Sen defeated HS Prannoy, ranked 34th in the men's singles badminton rankings, 15-21, 21-18, 21-10 in 1 hour and 8 minutes.

Lakshya Sen had a slow start, and HS Prannoy took advantage of it to win the first game. Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya also started the second game slowly. He was trailing 11-9 till the break, but then made a comeback to make the score 13-13.

Although Prannoy again took the lead at 18-17, Lakshya snatched the game by scoring four consecutive points and forced the decider. In the deciding game too, Lakshya Sen started cautiously and then gained momentum to take an 11-8 lead by the interval. After this, he lost only two points and won the match easily. This is his sixth win in nine encounters against Prannoy.

In the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also came back from a game down to beat Thailand's Peerachai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeratsakul 18-21, 21-15, 21-11 in one hour and three minutes. Despite trailing 11-7 at the interval and later slipping to 16-10, Satwik and Chirag came back to level the score at 18-18, but the Thai pair won three consecutive points to take the first game.

In the second game, Satwik and Chirag kept the Thai pair in check and did not let them take more than a one-point lead, but went ahead 11-10 at the interval. The Indian badminton players then raised their intensity and secured seven game points to reach the deciding game.

In the decisive match, the Indian pair established their dominance by taking the lead and then won to secure a place in the quarterfinals of the BWF Super 500 tournament.