Budding shuttler Lakshya Sen was impressive at the Tata Open Indian International Challenge as he cruised past his first round and pre-quarter round opponents at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Thursday.
Sen, seeded second for the tournament, won the round 1 match against Hong Kong’s Chan Yan Chak 21-18, 21-15 and went on to defeat compatriot Daniel Farid in the pre-quarters in straight sets 21-9, 21-17.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles section, Sumeeth Reddy and Puja Dandu were through to the quarter-finals, beating Gaurav Deswal and Tapaswini Samantarey 21-14, 21-17. Arjun MR and Maneesha K are also through to the quarters after defeating Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh 21-14, 21-17.
In the women’s singles section, Ashmita Chaliha defeated top seed, Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova 18-21, 21-16, 21-12. Anura Prabhudesai made it to the women’s singles quarters, as did Reshma Karthik, Mugdha Agrey, Vrushali Gummadi and Aakarshi Kashyap.
In the quarters, Lakshya will face Goh Giap Chin of Malaysia who defeated seventh seed Abhishek Yeligar 16-21, 21-19, 21-8. Kiran George is the only other Indian left in the men’s singles draw, having defeated Pratul Joshi 21-14, 18-21, 21-16.
(With inputs from PTI)
