Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty Lose Early at Indonesia Masters Super 500

Top doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, along with Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen, tasted an early exit from the Indonesia Masters Super 500 in Jakarta on Thursday. The badminton tournament is one of the most prestigious competitions under its banner, and on Thursday, these three celebrated national players crashed out in the second round.

Lakshya Sen, now ranked 10th in the world, prolonged his protracted battle on the international circuit with a gritty loss in the men's singles. He faced Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in a match that lasted 50 minutes. The encounter went to three games, finishing at 16-21, 21-12, 21-23 in Nishimoto's favor as Sen was not able to consolidate a second-game comeback. The game started off on a sour note for Sen as he was unable to prevent Nishimoto from winning the first game by sharp tactics. The Japanese shuttler got an early lead of 9-3, which he managed to hold up throughout the first game despite Sen's recovery at 10-11. His speed and powerful rallies helped Nishimoto take the first game without much effort.

Sen came out strong in the second game, though. He took it all, smashing out some good combinations with strong aggressiveness, thus reaching a 6-3 advantage. Nishimoto resorted to long rallies, but the Indian could play his clever strokeplay that enabled him to win at the break, 11-6. Sen also built his way with errors made by Nishimoto, this time from the net, for him to win up to 16-8. It was a complete defensive display by the Indian, who won the second game 21-12. The match will now go to a decider.

The last game was all tension as the two players continued trading points, with Nishimoto getting out to a 5-1 lead. But Sen was no less composed as he equalised at 7-7. The match went into a critical point when Sen briefly took the lead with a jump smash, but errors due to the drift on the court saw him fall behind 9-11 at the final break. Despite his best efforts, Sen could not recover and lost the decider 21-23.

Meanwhile, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were also knocked out in the second round of men's doubles after displaying fine form to reach both the semifinals of the Malaysia Super 1000 and the India Super 750. The Indian pair went down battling against Kittinupong Kedren and Dechapol Puavaranukroh of Thailand in an edge-of-the-seat affair that went 20-22, 21-23. The loss was extra painful because Satwik and Chirag did fight so hard but couldn't overcome the set Thai duo who held their nerves in both critical moments of games.

Dhruv Kapila and Tanshia Crasto, the Indian mixed doubles pair also saw their campaign come to an end in the second round, earlier in the tournament. Holding a lead against Malaysia's Pang Ron Hoo and Su Yin Cheng, the Indians never quite succeeded in taking the game home as they lost at 21-18, 15-21, 19-21. Still, they did their best to rally into the final game that got away from them; this was the stark competition again that Indian players had to face off on the circuit.

Part of a dismal trend of disappointing performances by Indian shuttlers at the Indonesia Masters, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and promising young talent Priyanshu Rajawat also made an early exit. These losses are a bitter reminder of how tough it gets for Indian badminton players at the very top level, where even the best-ranked ones have to battle it out against the best global opposition.

As the tournament progresses, Indian fans will be hoping for better results from the remaining athletes. Though the early exits are a disappointment, the competition provides valuable experience for the players, who will be looking to bounce back in future events. The Indonesia Masters serves as a crucial platform for shuttlers to test their mettle against the world’s best, and while the recent losses are disheartening, they will undoubtedly fuel the players' determination to improve and achieve success in upcoming tournaments.