India’s Lakshya Sen suffered a shock second-round defeat to USA’s Garret Tan to make an early exit from the BWF World Championships here on Wednesday.
The former World Championships bronze medallist could not match Tan’s pace, attack and deception, losing 21-19 19-21 17-21 in the men’s singles round of 32.
Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after receiving a walkover in their opening match.
The fifth-seeded Indians, who have already won two bronze medals at the World Championships, had received a first-round bye and were scheduled to face Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle in the second round.
However, the Scottish pair withdrew at the last moment after Dunn suffered a right ankle injury while playing his mixed doubles match earlier in the day.
Dunn and his partner Julie Macpherson were trailing second seeds Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand 8-18 when Dunn sustained the injury.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after defeating Macau’s Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi 21-11 21-11.
Young Unnati Hooda, making her debut at the prestigious tournament, bowed out after squandering an opening-game advantage, losing 21-11 9-21 21-23 to 12th seed Michelle Li of Canada in the women’s singles round of 32.
Men’s doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also went down 17-21 14-21 to Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju in another round-of-32 match.
Sen was troubled by Tan’s pace and attacking play, with the American making good use of his overhead smashes. He repeatedly targeted the Indian’s backhand rear corner and used jump smashes and deception to disrupt his opponent.
Tan raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening game, but the contest soon turned into a slugfest as the players moved from 5-5 to 18-18. Sen then managed to gain the upper hand and take the game.
After the change of ends, Tan stepped up his attack and dominated the rallies. He led 4-0 and maintained control throughout the game.
Sen attempted a comeback, reaching 15-20, and saved four game points before Tan finally sealed the game to level the match.
In the decider, Tan took control early, surging to a 12-4 lead. Sen, however, found a second wind and fought back to 15-17, with the 17th point coming after an intense rally that ended with Tan falling awkwardly on his chest and taking a medical timeout.
Tan responded with a jump smash to make it 18-16.
Sen then served long before Tan unleashed a cross-court smash to earn four match points. A flurry of smashes kept Sen alive, but he slipped while approaching a shot at the front court on the next rally, allowing Tan to put the shuttle away and celebrate a memorable victory.