German Open Badminton Highlights: India’s challenge at the German Open 2023 has come to an end. None of the players in the singles managed to advance to the second round on Wednesday, 8th March 2023. The biggest upset of the day was the loss of Lakshya Sen. He suffered a crashing 19-21, 16-21 defeat against Christo Popo. Lakshya Sen, who is the sixth seed in the tournament was the favourite against 41st ranked Popov. However the Indian bowed out from the opening round with a straight game defeat. Mithun Manjunath and Tasnim Mir also lost their respective first-round contests. Follow German Open 2023 LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
German Open Badminton Highlights: Lakshya Sen, Mithun Manjunath, Malvika Bansod and Tasnim Mir crash out from first round of German Open 2023 – Watch Highlights
Also Read: German Open 2023: Kidambi Srikanth Pulls Out Making Lakshya Sen Top Indian Contender
Men’s Singles
- Lakshya Sen LOST TO Christo Popov – 19-21, 16-21
- Mithun Manjunath LOST TO Loh Kean Yew – 8-21, 21-19, 11-21
Women’s Singles
- Malvika Bansod LOST TO Wang Zhi Yi – 13-21, 14-21
- Tasnim Mir LOSES TO Pornpawee Chochuwong – 8-21, 10-21
Lakshya Sen vs Christo Popov
World No.12 Lakshya Sen suffered a straight game defeat against Christo Popov, who is ranked 41st in the world. Right from the start, Lakshya Sen was challenged by the French player. He trailed 4-7 at the start of the first game. Popov went on to enter the mid-game interval with the scores at 11-9.
After the break, neck-to-neck battle ensued between both the players. Lakshya finally managed to take a 19-17 lead. However the Indian squandered the next four points and lost the first game 19-21.
Popov continued the momentum in the second game as he raced to a 5-0 lead at the start. Lakshya managed to reduce the deficit but struggled to take the lead. At one stage Popov’s lead swell to 16-9 and it became impossible for the Indian to make a comeback as he succumbed to straight game defeat in 46 minutes.
Mithun Manjunath vs Loh Kean Yew
Mithun Manjunath was the only one in the day, who came close to winning his match. The 48th ranked Indian faced fourth seed Loh Keam Yew. Manjunath went down 8-21 in the first game. However he fought back in the second game.
Trailing 4-6 initially, he took a 7-6 lead and entered the interval with a two-point cushion. He continued to maintain his lead ad didn’t let his opponent to get the better of him. He had two game points and a net-error from his opponent helped him take the contest into the decider.
In the third game too both the players were in a neck-to-neck battle. However Kean Yew managed to take the lead and entered the interval with a 11-6 lead. From then on the Singaporean showcased his dominance and went on to win the game 21-11.
Malvika Bansod vs Wang Zhi Yi
Malvika Bansod suffered a straight game defeat against World No.6 Wang Zhi Yi. With the loss, Bansod has lost her fourth straight first round defeat in the BWF Tour this year.
17-year old Tasnim Mir couldn’t even come close to sixth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong as the youngster was beaten in straight sets in just 25 minutes with the scores reading 21-8, 21-10.
German Open Badminton Highlights: Lakshya Sen, Mithun Manjunath, Malvika Bansod and Tasnim Mircrash out from first round of German Open 2023 – Watch Highlights
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