BWF World Championships: Lakshya Sen advanced to pre-quarterfinals

Luis Penalver started strong and took a 4-3 lead in the first game. However, No. 6 seed Lakshya Sen moved to 13-7 and maintained a comfortable lead before clinching the first game 21-17.

Both players exchanged the first six points of the second game to make it 3-3, but Lakshya Sen soon gained control and clinched the second game with a wide margin to secure a straight-set victory.

World championship bronze medallist Lakshya Sen will lock horns with fellow Indian HS Prannoy in the third round of the championship on August 26.

HS Prannoy booked a third-round spot after recording a sensational victory against two-time world champion Kento Momota of Japan 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.

It was the first victory of HS Prannoy against veteran Japanese shuttler Kento Momota after losing at their previous seven meetings.

Kidambi Srikanth lost 18-21, 17-21 to World No. 32 Zhao Jun Peng of China in another men's singles match of the day.

Zhao Jun Peng took a one-game lead just 12 minutes into the match. The 26-year-old Chinese shuttler took advantage of several unforced errors by his Indian counterpart to seal his victory after just 34 minutes of play.

The unseeded Indian pairing of Dhruv Kapila and M R Arjun booked a third-round sport after beating 2021 bronze medallists Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-17 21-16. 

The Indian duo will next face Loh Kean Hean and Hee Yong Kai Terry in a third-round clash on August 25.

However, it was a disappointing day for India in the women’s doubles as all four Indian pairings failed to win in the second round.

Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy lost 21-15, 21-10 to No. 1 seeds Jia Yi Fan and Chen Qing Chen of China, while Sanjana Santosh and Pooja Dandu went down against the South Korean pairing of Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan.