Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen continued his impressive run after beating Danish shuttler Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus in straight games to progress to the men's singles second round at BWF World Championships in Tokyo on Monday, August 22.
However, 2019 bronze medallist Praneeth bowed out to world number 4 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 15-21, 21-15, 15-21 in yet another forgettable outing following his struggles at 2021's Olympic Games, where he participated without a proper coach or physio and was eliminated early.
India also registered twin wins in women's and mixed doubles competitions on the opening.
20-year-old Sen, who had returned with a bronze on his debut in Spain in the same competition in 2021, prevailed 21-12, 21-11 over an erratic Vittinghus in his opening match.
Former Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy progressed to the women's doubles second round with a comfortable 21-7, 21-9 win over Maldives' Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq.
Ashwini and Sikki will face an uphill task of taming top seeds Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China in the second round.
In the mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar defeated the German duo of Patrick Scheiel and Franziska Volkmann 21-13, 21-13 in 29 minutes to also make a positive start to their campaign. The pair will now meet Thailand's Supak Jomkoh and Supissara Paewsampran next.
Ninth-seeded Lakshya played exceptional badminton with a deep forehand that troubled the 36-year-old Danish. But Vittinghus kept up with the forays, although he was unable to stop Lakshya from running away with the opening game.
A relentless Vittinghus kept testing the Indian by engaging him in fast-paced rallies, one of which was of 31 shots, but Lakshya used his winners to finish them off or the Danish miscued. In the mid-game interval of the second game, Lakshya again managed a four-point advantage after Vittinghus sent one wide, and slapped his head in frustration.
At 11-15, Vittinghus made Lakshya twist and turn with his angled returns to win a point, but he was too erratic to put any pressure on his opponent.
Soon, five straight points took Lakshya to match points and he sealed it with a smash.
Among others, B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri lost 11-21 21-19 15-21 to Masayuki Onodera and Hiroki Okamura in men's doubles. In women's singles, Malvika Bansod also bowed out in the opening round after losing 14-21 12-21 to Denmark's Line Christophersen.
