India’s challenge at Hylo Open Super 500 badminton tournament came to an end after both Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen suffered straight g...
India’s challenge at Hylo Open Super 500 badminton tournament came to an end after both Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen suffered straight game defeats in their respective men’s singles semifinals in Saarbrucken, Germany on Saturday.
Sen, ranked 21 in the world, went down fighting 18-21, 12-21 to 39th ranked Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in 45 minutes while Srikanth suffered a narrow 19-21, 20-22 loss to Malaysian second seed Lee Zii Jia.
Former champion Sen matched his opponent in the fast-paced rallies but lacked finishing as he suffered his second loss to Loh in three meetings this year. He had avenged his Dutch Open final loss to Loh with a straight game win at the French Open last month.
In the semifinal clash, Loh showed better discipline and precision to return the favour to the Indian.
Srikanth too never lacked in intent but Lee was always a step ahead in the opening game. Lee had opened up a 4-0 lead in the second but the Indian soon moved to 15-10 to raise hopes of a comeback.
But an alert Lee clawed back soon into the lead and even had two match points. Srikanth drew parity but Lee averted any hiccups and sealed the contest with a cross court return.
Earlier, Sen and...
