In a surprising turn of events at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament on Tuesday, Indian prodigy Lakshya Sen was eliminated in the first round after a straight-sets loss to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen. This setback follows Sen’s impressive run to the finals of the Hong Kong Open, indicating a dip in his usual form.
While Sen faced an early exit, the Indian mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde kicked off their campaign on a high note. They secured a confident 21-12, 21-19 victory against Ukraine’s Oleksii Titov and Yevheniia Kantemyr. The duo is now set to challenge the formidable fifth-seeded local favorites, Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, who are also World Championships bronze medalists.
Last week at the Denmark Open, the 24-year-old Lakshya, hailing from Almora, had defeated Nguyen in a hard-fought three-game opener. However, his performance in Paris was markedly different. He struggled with erratic play, frequently sending shots wide or into the net, and found it challenging to establish a rhythm against Nguyen’s powerful and precise smashes.
Sen’s deep tosses often veered off course, and his aggressive attacking style lacked the necessary accuracy, quickly putting him behind 2-7 in the initial stages of the first game. Despite engaging in lengthy rallies and putting in significant effort, Lakshya repeatedly faltered on his finishing shots. He trailed by six points at the mid-game interval following another wide return and couldn’t recover, as Nguyen surged to a 19-7 lead before closing out the first game with a sharp cross-court winner.
The change of ends offered little reprieve for the world No. 16 Indian, who found himself trailing 1-6 early in the second game. Although he managed to narrow the deficit to 4-6, a series of unforced errors allowed Nhat to re-establish an 11-5 advantage by the break. Lakshya attempted a brief resurgence, bringing the score to 11-15, but crucial mistakes continued to plague his performance. A long rally at 14-17 concluded with a backhand into the net, and two more errors handed Nguyen six match points. Sen managed to save two, but the Irish shuttler ultimately sealed his victory with a clever cross-court shot, ending Lakshya’s French Open journey.