Indian badminton star Lakshya Sen advanced to the Round of 16 in the men’s singles event at the Arctic Open Super 500 tournament after his opponent Rasmus Gemke pulled out of their first round match. Indian underdog Kiran George surprised Chinese Taipei’s 25th ranked player Wang Tzu Wei with a 23-21 21-18 victory, advancing to the pre-quarterfinals.
Lakshya Sen enters pre-quarters after Rasmus Gemke withdraws
Lakshya, who finished fourth at the 2024 Paris Olympics, received a bye to the second round upon his return after two months. At the last minute, Rasmus Gemke, from Denmark, withdrew from the competition, resulting in the Indian advancing to the Round of 16.
Lakshya Sen will face stiff challenge from Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei in the next round.
Also read: Arctic Open: PV Sindhu exits; Malvika Bansod enters pre-quarters
Kiran George upsets Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei
Meanwhile, Kiran defeated Wang Tzu Wei from Chinese Taipei in two straight games, with scores of 23-21 and 21-18, securing his spot in the pre-quarterfinals.
The Indian didn’t begin well, falling behind 2-7 initially but managed to equalize at 15-15 after a tough fight. He gained a 19-16 advantage before Wang countered it and seemed poised to dominate the first game. Despite the pressure, Kiran stayed calm and won the first game with a score of 23-21.
Kiran once again came down from an early 4-9 deficit in the second game to take the score to 13 all. There were no last moment hiccups this time around as he took the second game 21-18 and send the higher ranked shuttler packing.
In the next round, Kiran will face the current Asian Champion Jonatan Christie from Indonesia, while Sen will compete against Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei.
