Lakshya Sen, Tanisha-Ashwini lose in quarter-finals of Indonesia Masters; India’s campaign ends

PTI

Jakarta, January 27

Lakshya Sen’s impressive run in the Indonesia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament ended with a quarter-final loss to Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie here on Friday.

World No. 12 Sen squandered an opening-game advantage to go down 21-15, 10-21, 13-21 to home favourite Christie, ranked third, in a 62-minute men’s singles match.

Later in the day, new women’s doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 13-21, 18-21 to Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the quarter-finals to bring down the curtain on India’s campaign.

Coming into the match with a 1-0 head-to-head record, Commonwealth Games champion Sen showed his prowess as he opened up an 8-5 lead and maintained it at the break.

Christie knocked off the three-point deficit after resumption and made it 15-15 before the Indian reeled off six straight points to pocket the opening game.

After the change of sides, Sen lost his grip on the match as Christie looked like a different player, zooming to 11-2 in a jiffy before levelling the match.

Christie made a good start in the decider, galloping to a 5-1 lead. Sen produced four points on the trot but he was left with too much to do.

The Indonesian ensured there was no hiccup as he marched to an 11-6 lead and maintained a healthy distance from his opponent to eventually seal the contest with a four-point burst.

Sen had reached the second round at India Open last week.