NEW DELHI, AUG 19 (PTI): Lakshya Sen suffered a shock second-round defeat to USA’s Garret Tan to make an early exit but two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and fast-rising Ayush Shetty progressed to the pre-quarterfinals at the BWF World Championships here on Wednesday.
Sen, a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, could not match USA’s former world Junior No.1 Garret Tan’s pace, attack and deception, losing 21-19 19-21 17-21 in the men’s singles round of 32.
Sindhu, who is chasing an unprecedented sixth world championship medal, secured a 21-16 21-17 win over Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang to enter the last-16.
The 2019 World Champion, seeded ninth, will face China’s third seed Wang Zhi Yi next.
Ayush Shetty brushed aside Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-8 21-10 to set up a clash with a formidable opponent in Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan.
Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after receiving a walkover in their opening match.
The fifth-seeded Indians, who have already won two bronze medals at the World Championships, had received a first-round bye and were scheduled to face Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle in the second round.
However, the Scottish pair withdrew at the last moment after Dunn suffered a right ankle injury while playing his mixed doubles match earlier in the day.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after defeating Macau’s Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi 21-11 21-11.
Young Unnati Hooda, making her debut at the prestigious tournament, also bowed out after squandering an opening-game advantage, losing 21-11 9-21 21-23 to 12th seed Michelle Li of Canada in the women’s singles.
Men’s doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also went down 17-21 14-21 to Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju.
Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke also created a big upset with a 13-21 21-17 21-11 thrashing of All England champion and world No. 12 Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei.