Indonesia Masters 2024: Kiran George marches on, Antonsen ends Lakshya Sen’s run

Published at :January 25, 2024 at 9:54 PM

Modified at :January 27, 2024 at 3:38 AM

(Courtesy : BAI)

Kiran George is only Indian left in fray

India’s Lakshya Sen bowed out of the Indonesia Masters 2024 badminton tournament after losing to Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in the second round of the men’s singles event on Thursday.

Sen, who is ranked 19th in the world, put up a valiant fight against the seventh-ranked Antonsen, but went down 19-21, 18-21 in a hard-fought match that lasted an hour and one minute.

The Indian shuttler trailed 15-20 in the first game but saved four game points to narrow the gap to 19-20. However, Antonsen held his nerve and clinched the game on his fifth attempt.

The second game was a close affair, with both players exchanging leads till 17-17. But Antonsen proved to be more consistent and won four of the next five points to seal the match and a spot in the quarter-finals.

This was Sen’s third consecutive early exit in the 2024 season, after losing in the first round of the Malaysian Open and the India Open.

Sen was the only Indian to reach the second round of the Indonesia Masters, a Super 500 event that offers ranking points for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The other Indian players in the fray were Kiran George, Priyanshu Rajawat, HS Prannoy, and Kidambi Srikanth, who all lost in the first round.

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George, who is ranked 36th in the world, had a commendable run in the tournament, as he came through the qualifiers and upset France’s Toma Junior Popov, who is ranked 23rd, in the first round. He then gave a tough fight to China’s LU Guang Zu, who is ranked 19th, before losing 11-21, 21-13, 18-21.

Rajawat, who is ranked 30th in the world and was part of India’s historic Thomas Cup triumph in 2022, lost to Canada’s Brian Yang, who is ranked 24th, 18-21, 14-21.

Prannoy, who is India’s highest-ranked singles player at world No. 8, and Srikanth, who is ranked 12th, both suffered shock defeats to lower-ranked opponents. Prannoy lost to Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen, who is ranked 16th, 16-21, 17-21, while Srikanth lost to Japan’s Koki Watanabe, who is ranked 20th, 19-21, 21-18, 15-21.

The Indonesia Masters 2024 is the third tournament of the 2024 season, and the qualification period for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window started on May 1, 2023 and will end in April 2024

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