Lakshya Sen makes winning start to All England Open 2023, beats World No. 5 Chou Tien Chen

Lakshya Sen (Image source: Twitter)

One of India's most promising badminton players, Lakshya Sen, kicked off the All England Open Badminton Championship in style as he beat world No. 5 Chou Tien Chen 21-18, 21-19 in the first round. The 21-year-old hasn't had a great start to the year so far but proved why he remains India's best bet in the competition with some excellent attacking and defensive shots in Birmingham on Tuesday.

It took Sen 48 minutes to beat Taipei's Tian Chen. The Taiwan shuttler gave a tough contest in the first game, making a good comeback before losing. Sen dominated after taking a 15-9 lead, but Chen bounced back and heated up the battle by making it 17-17. But the Uttarakhand star held his nerve to win with a 3-point lead. The second game was more of the same as the fight went from 5-5 to 18-19, but a service error from Chen gave Sen the upper hand and he sealed the match from there. This win under pressure will give him a lot of confidence going into the second round.

Work of art ✨@lakshya_sen | @YonexAllEngland #AllEngland2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/WlrtsvPcVv

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 15, 2023

Lakshya Sen will join HS Prannoy in Round 2

Meanwhile, another Indian HS Prannoy also made a winning start in the ongoing All England Championship and will join his compatriot Sen in the second round. World No. 9 Prannoy defeated Taiwan's Tzu Wei Wang 21-19, 22-20 in 49 minutes. The 30-year-old also had to go through some drama in his first match. After a dominant start to an 11-4 lead, Wang staged an incredible comeback to make it 19-19. Prannoy was under pressure but hit two powerful smashes to win two points in a row.

The second match was also not easy for Prannoy as Wang made him sweat hard to cross the finish line. The scoreline was once 16-16 and the Indian shuttler managed to take a lead of 19-17. Taipei's Wang held his nerve and drew level, but in the end, Prannoy had the last laugh.

Prannoy, originally hails from Thiruvananthapuram, will next face Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the Round of 16 match on March 16. Meanwhile, the former world junior No. 1 Sen will clash with Denmark’s Anders Antonsen on the same day.