Lakshya Sen makes a strong comeback after a shaky start to enter the second round of the BWF World Championships in the men’s singles event.The Indian star loses the opening game to Austria’s Collins Valentine Filimon but quickly turns the match around to win 16-21, 21-8, 21-4 in 45 minutes.Sen struggles with errors early on and falls behind after a run of six straight points from Filimon. However, the Indian finds his rhythm in the second game, with the scores level at 7-7 before he takes control. Sen then wins 10 consecutive points to force a decider.The third game proves one-sided as Sen dominates from the beginning, racing ahead and giving Filimon little chance to recover. He will next face USA’s Garret Tan, who beats Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi.
Sen, Treesa-Gayatri advance
In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand produce an impressive straight-game win over 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee of the USA. The Indians win 21-15, 21-12 in 38 minutes to reach the pre-quarterfinals.Jolly’s powerful smashes and Gayatri’s clever drops help the pair control the match. They also build an 11-4 lead in the second game before closing it out comfortably.Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi, however, exit after losing 7-21, 14-21 to Bulgaria’s ninth-seeded Stoeva sisters.
Mixed doubles struggle
India has a difficult day in mixed doubles, with Rohan Kapoor-Ruthvika Shivani Gadde and Ashith Surya-Amrutha Pramuthesh losing their opening-round matches.Kapoor and Gadde go down 22-20, 19-21, 17-21 to Canada’s Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Crystal Lai, while Surya and Pramuthesh lose 21-16, 29-30, 22-24 to Turkey’s Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas.Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto remain in contention after receiving a first-round bye. Meanwhile, Unnati Hooda advances in women’s singles after beating Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar 22-20, 21-16.
