All England Open Badminton Championships - SENsational Lakshya stuns World No. 3 Anders Antonsen, Indian fans in awe

In the Round of 16 clash at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2024, Indian shuttler Laksya Sen delivered a remarkable performance against World No. 3 Anders Antonsen. Sen secured a hard-fought victory over Antonsen, with a scoreline of 24-22, 11-21, 21-14, in an intense 80-minute match, propelling himself into the quarter-finals in Birmingham.

Before this impressive feat, Sen had cruised to victory in Round 1 of the BWF Super 1000 event, defeating young Dane Magnus Johannesen with a score of 21-14, 21-14. His advancement to the pre-quarters as the sole Indian representative in the men's singles category garnered attention, particularly after his SENsational comeback following a semi-final loss in the French Open badminton tournament.

About Lakshya Sen

Ranked 18th in the world, Sen encountered a formidable challenge against his higher-ranked opponent. Initially trailing 2-8 in the deciding set and 6-11 at the change of ends, Sen staged a remarkable comeback. The match wasn't devoid of drama, as the chair umpire called two fouls at the net on Antonsen, eliciting dismay from the Danish player.

In the upcoming quarter-final match on Friday, Sen will square off against Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia.

All England Open Badminton Championships - Other Indian shuttlers

Earlier on Thursday, India's top shuttler PV Sindhu suffered a defeat in the Round of 16, losing 21-19, 21-11 to reigning world champion An Se Young of Korea. This marked Sindhu's seventh consecutive loss to An Se Young.

In another match, the Indian women's doubles team of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa exited the tournament in the Round of 16, despite taking the opening game against Zhang and Zheng of China. They lost the match with a score of 11-21, 21-11, 21-11.

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The focus will next shift to the Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who will enter the event fresh off their French Open title win last week. They had clinched victory over the formidable Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in straight games on Wednesday. 

Satwik-Chirag are set to face another Indonesian duo, Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana later at night in the All England Badminton Open champions in 2022.

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