Hong Kong Open 2023: Lakshya Sen Withdraws; Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa into second round

Top Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen withdrew from the Hong Kong Open 2023 just hours before his men's singles first round match, handing a walkover to his opponents on Wednesday (September 13) in Hong Kong.

Sen, the top ranked Indian from men's singles in the ongoing tournament, was scheduled to face Chinese Taipei's qualifier in Su Li Yang in the opener on Court 2 at the Hong Kong Coliseum, but pulled out of the tournament just two hours ahead of the match.

The reason for his witdrawal is not known, but the eighth-seeded came into the Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament on the back of a first round exit in last week's China Open and is among the Indian badminton squad for the upcoming Asian Games 2023, for which the camp begins next week.

Meanwhile, another singles competitor from India, Priyanshu Rajawat also bowed out in the first round following straight games loss to Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama by a scoreline of 13-21, 14-21.

With that, the Indian challenge in the men's singles came to an end as five other qualifiers including recent Indonesia Masters Super 100 champion Kiran George, lost in their respective matches, failing to reach the main draw.

In women's singles, Akarshi Kashyap suffered similar fate as she lost in straight games to Yvonne Li of Germany by a scoreline of 18-21, 10-21. Malvika Bansod also crashed out following straight games loss Zhang Yi Man of China by a scoreline of 14-21, 12-21.

In doubles there was mixed results for India as the women's doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto advanced to pre-quarterfinals, but three other pairs crashed out in the first round

Crasto-Ponnappa progressed with a straight games 21-19, 21-19 win over superior ranked opponents in the form of a Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Chia Hsin and Teng Chun Hsun. Ponnappa, however, crashed out from mixed doubles action later in the day.

Ponnappa and B Sumeeth Reddy went down fighting against Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia in three games 16-21, 21-16, 18-21 in first round mixed doubles match.

Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor pair also lost to Hee Yong Kai Terry and Tan Wei Han Jessica pair of Singapore by straight games by a scoreline of 19-21, 10-21 in mixed doubles.

In men's doubles, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala pair lost their first-round match against Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Cheol of South Korea by a scoreline of 14-21, 19-21,

Earlier on Tuesday (September 12), Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly progressed to the Round of 16 in the women's doubles after hard-fought win over Debora Jille and Cheryl Seinen of Netherlands by a scoreline of 21-15, 16-21, 21-16.