Hylo Open 2025: Lakshya Sen stuns France's Christo Popov to roll into 2nd round, Kidambi Srikanth knocked out

India's star shuttler Lakshya Sen got off to a resounding start to the USD 475,000 Hylo Open Super 500 tournament in Saarbrucken, Germany.

Lakshya Sen roll into Hylo Open's second round

The 2021 World Championships bronze medallist delivered a stunning performance on Wednesday, defeating the higher-ranked fifth seed, Christo Popov of France, in straight games with a score of 21-16, 22-20. Sen, who recently reached the finals of the Hong Kong Open, is set to face fellow Indian S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian, in the next round. Subramanian secured his spot by defeating Malaysia's Jun Hao Leong in a hard-fought opening match, 21−14,18−21,21−16.

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Kidambi Srikanth's campaign ends

However, it was an early exit for another prominent Indian shuttler, Kidambi Srikanth, whose campaign ended in the men's singles after he lost to compatriot Kiran George with scores of 19−21,11−21. George's reward for the victory is a tough pre-quarterfinal match against the eighth seed, Toma Junior Popov of France, who overcame England's Harry Huang in three games, 21−17,19−21,21−19.

The tournament also delivered encouraging news from the women's singles draw. Unseeded Indian player Shriyanshi Valishetty caused an upset by convincingly defeating the third seed, Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark. Valishetty outsmarted her opponent in a swift 33-minute match, posting a final score of 21−19,21−12 to advance in the tournament.

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Young Indian shuttler Rakshitha Santhosh Ramraj also advanced to the women's singles round of 16 at the Hylo Open, securing a decisive victory over Clara Azurmendi of Spain with scores of 21-14, 21-16. This win sets up an exciting all-Indian clash in the second round, where Ramraj will face her compatriot Shriyanshi Valishetty, who had earlier upset the third seed.In contrast, the tournament journey concluded early for another Indian player, Anmol Kharb. She was eliminated after a tough opening-round match against the eighth seed, Julie Dawall Jakobsen of Denmark. Despite a valiant fight, Kharb ultimately lost a close contest in straight games, 24-26, 21-23, marking the end of the road for her in the women's singles event.