Malaysia Open: PV Sindhu Advances to Second Round as Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty Bow Out

Whereas Sindhu looked comfortable in her match, Lakshya Sen faced a somewhat disappointing match against Lee Cheuk Yiu from Hong Kong. Even though he is currently ranked No. 13 in the world, Sen started the match very well and played with his usual great defense and ability at the net. Sen was in control the first game and was leading 11-9 at the mid-game break. He even had game points. Then Sen made one mistake that allowed Lee to come back.

While most young athletes would buckle at the thought of facing a competitor boasting their reputation, Shetty did not back down. He went up against the elite of the game and came away victorious by taking down the second game of the match pushing his opponent to play a deciding set. The final score read 21 – 18, 18 – 21, 21 – 12 and tells a tale of a competitive match; although Shetty lost, he had no fear in challenging the world’s number one seed and he took him to a deciding set. This bodes well for Indian Badminton moving forward as he is now seen as the next generation’s star of the sport.

Looking ahead, PV Sindhu, and the men’s doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, now have their attention turned to them after the conclusion of men’s singles play. The competition is intensifying, and it will continue to get harder as we move further through the tournament.