Denmark Open: Sen, duo Chirag and Rankireddy exit in last eight

Saina Nehwal upsets the Indian fans with an early exit from the competetion.

India’s journey in the Denmark Open has come to an end as Lakshya Sen and the pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy bowed out in the quarter-finals of Men’s Singles and Men’s doubles respectively. The likes of HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal were already eliminated earlier in the tournament in their respective categories.

Strong performance, weak result

Lakshya Sen, the Commonwealth Games gold medalist was beaten by Kodai Naraoka of Japan, 21-17, 21-12. It wasn’t the best of performances for Lakshya as the World No. 8 in the world badminton rankings lost to a player placed 16 places behind him in the ranking. Despite a slow start to the game, Lakshya managed to take a 14-13 lead in the first game but the Japanese edged it in the end. The second game was a comfortable one for Kodai as he cemented his place in the semifinals. The match lasted 46 minutes.

In his opening game in the competition against the World No. 6 A Ginting of Indonesia, Sen dominated early on in the game. The Indian shuttler won 21-16 21-12 to enter the pre-quarterfinals. While facing his compatriot HS Prannoy in the next round, Sen once again came better of the World No. 13.

Lost to World Champions

In the other game, the pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy succumbed to defeat against the World Champion duo of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik from Malaysia. The Indian pair gave their elite opponents a tough fight but eventually lost 21-16, 21-19. The scores were level at 8-8 in the first game before the Malaysian duo picked up the pace and won four straight points. The momentum was enough to carry them through the first game.

In the second game, the Indians took a 13-9 lead but once again the World Champions fought back to win the second game and mark their place in the semis. The match lasted 41 minutes.

This loss meant Chirag and Satwiksairaj have now lost seven straight games against the Malaysian duo. Earlier this year the Indian duo lost to the same Malaysian opponents in the semi-finals of the BWF World Championship.

India came out empty-handed from the competition with Sen bowing out of the competition. Kidambi Srikanth lost in the pre-quarterfinals after a loss to K.Y. Loh of Singapore.