German Open: Lakshya Sen halts HS Prannoy to enter semis while Kidambi Srikanth goes down fighting

Lakshya Sen sailed into the semifinals of the ongoing German Open in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany on Friday. The World Championship bronze medalist remained the lone ranger for his country as other Indians crashed out of this BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament.

While Lakshya Sen kept the Indian flag flying high at the event, it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy. The men’s doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala also went down fighting in the quarterfinals.

Lakshya Sen stops HS Prannoy’s comeback trail

For the second time this year, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy clashed in the quarterfinals of an international tournament. This time too, the 20-year-old Lakshya got the better of his senior compatriot to continue his rich vein of form.

In the quarterfinal between these two Indian shuttlers, Lakshya sailed past Prannoy 21-15, 21-16 in just 39 minutes to end the impressive run of the senior Indian player.

The World No. 12 had rallied back to beat Prannoy in three games in their last quarterfinal meeting in a BWF World Tour event, eventually going on to win his maiden Super 500 title at the Indian Open in January.

World No. 24 Prannoy fought well in both the games but could not break his younger rival. Lakshya will now cross swords with top seed and reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark for a spot in the Final.

Former World Champion Axelsen has a perfect 4-0 head-to-head record against Lakshya Sen and will start as a firm favorite in Saturday’s big clash.

Lakshya Sen will face top seed Viktor Axelsen in the semifinals on Saturday. (Pic credit: BAI)

Srikanth goes down fighting against Axelsen

World Championship silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth went down fighting against Viktor Axelsen. World No. 1 Axelsen overcame a late challenge from Srikanth to post a 21-10, 23-21 win in 35 minutes. It was Srikanth’s sixth defeat on the trot to the Danish star.

World No. 11 Srikanth got off to a poor start and lost the first game quite easily. But he fought well in the next game to stay in the match. The former World No. 1 produced a better display in the second game and opened up a 3-0 lead initially, but couldn't build on it.

Srikanth and Axelsen continued to fight it out, moving to 12-12. The Indian shuttler then pocketed a three-point advantage, only to squander it as the Tokyo Olympic champion nosed ahead in the final moments. Srikanth almost took the match into the decider but failed to convert his two-game points and had to bow out of the competition.

Krishna Prasad and Vishnuvardhan Goud lose to the Chinese pair

Fast-rising Indian men’s doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala wasted six game points in the second game to crash out in the quarters.

Krishna Prasad and Vishnuvardhan Goud went down to He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong 11-21, 21-23 in 36 minutes. The young Chinese duo saved six game points in the second game to shatter the hopes of Krishna and Vishnuvarshan, ranked 50 in the world.

Indian Results (Quarterfinals)

Men’s singles

Lakshya Sen bt HS Prannoy 21-15, 21-16 (39 minutes)

Kidambi Srikanth lost to Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) 10-21, 21-23 (35 minutes)

Men’s doubles

Krishna Prasad Garaga-Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala lost to He Ji Ting-Zhou Hao Dong (China) 11-21, 21-23 (36 minutes)

Semi-final line-up

Men’s singles

Lakshya Sen vs Viktor Axelsen (Denmark)