IMAGE: Lakshya Sen advanced to the US Open semis with a confident win over compatriot S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian. Photograph: Lakshya Sen/Twitter
Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu suffered a straight-games defeat to crash out in the quarter-finals, but Lakshya Sen marched into the last-four stage of the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Council Bluffs, USA, on Friday.
Sindhu, ranked 12th in the world and seeded third at the US Open, was stunned 20-22, 13-21 by 24-year-old Gao Fang Jie of China in the women singles, while Lakshya defeated S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian 21-10, 21-17 in an all-Indian men’s singles match.
Lakshya will face second seed Li Shi Feng of China in the semi-finals. The Indian enjoys a 5-3 win-loss ratio against Feng.
Olympic medallist Sindhu fought hard against her 36-ranked Chinese opponent, but the Indian’s inability to win long rallies proved to be crucial in the opening game.
Sindhu was completely overpowered in the second as Fang Jie upped her game and gave little room to the Indian to approach the net and play her drop shots.
In an all-Indian affair, third seed Lakshya easily got the better of promising 19-year-old Sankar Muthusamy from Chennai.
Lakshya was extremely confident in his rallies and it showed in the final match statistics as he won 42 rallies while Sankar Muthusamy could manage only 27 in a contest that lasted 38 minutes.
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