It was a day of mixed emotions for Indian badminton fans as Lakshya Sen entered his first-ever World Tour Super 500 Summit final by beating Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong in a thriller. But disappointment followed in the women's single as No. 1 seed PV Sindhu bowed at the semifinal stage losing to Thailand's Supanida Katethong.
Lakshya, who was given a tough fight in the quarter-finals on Friday (January 14) by fellow Indian HS Prannoy, started on a positive note by matching his opponents' pace. Aerial defense and good shot selection saw him stay in the game, before losing control at the decisive stage as his opponent picked the first game 21-19. However, it was the third seed who came storming back by dominating the second and third game to progress to the final. Lakshya would win back-to-back games, 21-16 and 21-12, to enter his first World Tour Super 500 Summit final.
The women's singles saw a mighty upset as current Olympic Bronze medalist, PV Sindhu, was outclassed by Thailand's Supanida Katethong in three games. After losing the first game comprehensively by 14-21, 26-year-old Sindhu dashed her way back by winning the second game 21-13. The joy though was short-lived as she was no way near her Thai opponent in the deciding game losing 10-21. The loss means that there will be no Indian winner in the women's single this year as, Saina Nehwal, defending champion had exited early in the competition.
There was good news in the men's doubles as Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy cruised in straight games, 21-10, 21-18, to book their place in Sunday's final by defeating the French duo of William Villeger and Fabien Delrue. They will now face former world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in the final. It was curtains for the pair Haritha Manazhiyii Harinarayan and Ashna Roy in the women's doubles as they lost 12-21, 9-21 in the semifinal.
On the contrary, India will have huge expectations on Sunday from Lakshya, as he will try to get the better of fifth seed Loh Kean Yew in the final; he was given a walkover in the semis. The duo has a head-to-head of 2-2, but Lakshya has lost two of the last three meetings. The pair also met in the Dutch Cup final where Lakshya ended as the second best.
