India’s HS Prannoy scripted a remarkable comeback while Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya Sen crashed out in the first round of the men’s singles at the China Open 2025 badminton on Tuesday.
Competing at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, world No. 35 HS Prannoy was in inspired form as he fought back from a game down and held his nerve in a tight decider to beat Koki Watanabe of Japan 8-21, 21-16, 23-21 in 57 minutes.
After dropping the opening game, the world championships bronze medallist HS Prannoy rallied in the second to take the match into a decider.
The deciding game saw HS Prannoy 11-2 down at the midbreak and then 20-15 down again before saving five match points in total and securing a hard-fought win.
This was Prannoy’s first win in two matches against world No. 18 Koki Watanabe. He will face sixth seed Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei in the pre-quarterfinals.
However, India’s top men’s shuttler and world No. 19 Lakshya Sen suffered an early exit against world No. 5 Li Shifeng of the People’s Republic of China.
After comfortably winning the opening game, Lakshya Sen was made to work harder in the second, where he squandered two match points as Li Shifeng took the contest into a decider.
The final game of the match witnessed Lakshya Sen fail to keep pace with the Chinese shuttler as the Indian badminton player lost the match 14-21, 24-22, 21-11.
This was Li Shifeng’s sixth win in 13 matches against Lakshya Sen.
Meanwhile, Anupama Upadhyaya and India’s mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde bowed out of the BWF Super 1000 tournament despite forcing their respective matches into deciding games.
Anupama Upadhyaya, 38th in the women’s singles badminton rankings, was beaten 21-23, 21-11, 21-10 by world No. 22 Lin Hsiang-Ti of Chinese Taipei. Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde lost 25-27, 21-16, 21-14 against Malaysia’s Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien.
India’s other mixed doubles pair of Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also crashed out in the first round after a 21-12, 21-17 defeat to Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia.
China Open 2025 badminton: Day 1 India results
Men’s singles
- HS Prannoy bt Koki Watanabe (JPN) 8-21, 21-16, 23-21
- Lakshya Sen lost to Li Shifeng (CHN) 14-21, 24-22, 21-11
Women’s singles
- Anupama Upadhyaya lost to Lin Hsiang-Ti (TPE) 21-23, 21-11, 21-10
Mixed doubles
- Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Gadde lost to Wong Tien Ci/Lim Chiew Sien (MAS) 25-27, 21-16, 21-14
- Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh lost to Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (INA) 21-12, 21-17