Lakshya Sen bows out in 1st round of Badminton Asia Championships 2023

World Championships bronze medalist Lakshya Sen suffered a first-round exit at the Badminton Asia Championships in Dubai on Wednesday, April 26. Lakshya faced a tough test against former world champion and World No. 7 Loh Kean Yew in the opening round in men's singles and the young shuttler was not able to get past the opening hurdle in the continental championships.

Lakshya Sen lost 7-21, 21-23 to Loh Kean Yew in just 37 minutes in the opening round. Lakshya paid the price for starting slow against Loh, who looked sharp from the word go. The Singapore star used his lightning-fast movement to put pressure on Lakshya, who was struggling to keep with the pace in the first game. Loh took the opening game without allowing to Lakshya to gain any sort of momentum.

However, the Indian



shuttler, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, managed to make a comeback, going toe-to-toe with Loh in the second game. At the mid-game interval, Loh led 11-9 and continued to stay ahead. in fact, Lakshya had a game point after a few incredible rallies between the two highly-rated shuttlers at 20-19. However, the Indian shuttler was not able to close out the contest and fell in straight games.

Lakshya faced a tough draw at the Badminton Asia Championships due to his low ranking of 24 on the BWF charts. The Indian shuttler, who was in peak form, reaching the All England final and winning the CWG Gold last year, has had a rough start to his 2023 season. The Almorah star has managed to reach the quarter-final in only one of the 7 tournaments he has featured in 2023, facing early exits in the remainder of the events.