Lakshay Sen and Malvika Bansod Walk into Second Round of Korea Open

Both went through tough three-game wins at the Gwangju Women's University Stadium in Suncheon. Sen trounced Korea’s Choi Ji Hoon 14-21 21-16 21-18, and Bansod survived a 20-22 22-20 21-10 rally against world number 24 Han Yue of China.

Lakshya Sen Crushes the Efforts of Local Star Choi Ji Hoon

The first-round match between Sen and Ji Hoon 14-21 21-16 21-18 lasted for over an hour. The sixth seed has been in terrific form for the last six months with consecutive wins at the German Open and All England Championships. In the opening moments, Sen had a loose grasp over the game against Choi, who was dominating the first set. Although Sen leveled the score at 14-14, the Korean secured seven points in a streak and took a 1-0 lead. 

The young shuttler from Almora then regained his focus in the second game and established an 11-7 lead at the interval. He kept his pace and finally pushed the match into the decider. In the last set, Choi was leading 8-3 but Sen quickly accelerated the scoreboard to 16-13 in his favor before closing the match with a sweet victory. He will face Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito in the next round. 

Unseeded Malvika Bansod Surprises the Stadium Following First Round Win

Bansod delivered a stunning 20-22 22-20 21-10 rally win over world no 24 Han Yue of China. The match opened in favor of the Indian until she held four-game points. However, the unseeded shuttler wasted all her chances ultimately losing the game to her opponent. Bansod gave it another attempt and dominated the second game 11-4 at the break. She subsequently earned three-game points but Han was unstoppable. She caught up leaving the Indian struggling to take the match to the decider.

In the third and last game, Bansod had more control over her game. She broke at 7-7 and then secured nine straight points to win the match. The 20-year-old who had reached the finals of the Syed Modi Super 300 tournament in January 2022 will encounter the sixth-seeded Thai Pornpawee Chochuwong in the second round.

HS Pranmoy Fails to Perform

HS Prannoy bowed out of the tournament after a defeat against world number 71 June Wei Cheam of Malaysia. The world number 23 shuttler gave a fight in the opening set which tied at 11-11 at the interval but it eventually went to the Malaysian who won 21-17. In the second game, Prannoy couldn't match his Malaysian opponent and lost the game 7-21.

The 41-minute long match was disappointing for Pranmoy who lost to a player ranked much lower than him.

In doubles, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala's pairing lost 14-21 19-21 to Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan of Indonesia. On the other hand, Bokka Navaneeth and B Sumeeth Reddy exited after losing 14-21 19-21 to the sixth-seeded Malaysian partnership of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi.