Paris 2024 semi-finalist Lakshya Sen battled his way into the quarter-finals of the men’s singles event in the Macau Open 2025 badminton tournament after a hard-fought win at the Macao East Asian Games Dome on Thursday.
Up against world No. 48 Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia, Lakshya Sen, 17th in the badminton rankings, led 11-10 at the mid-game interval before pulling away to close out the opener comfortably.
He then lost the second game but regrouped in the third to win the match 21-14, 14-21, 21-17 in an hour and seven minutes.
His compatriot Tharun Mannepalli pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the day after staging a remarkable comeback to defeat top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong China.
The Indian badminton player surged to a 7-1 lead but dropped the opening game. Undeterred, he bounced back in the second after racing to an 11-5 advantage and closing it out convincingly.
The deciding game was a gripping contest with neither player willing to concede any ground. However, it was Tharun Mannepalli who held his nerve in the crucial moments, edging past Lee Cheuk Yiu with a 19-21, 21-14, 22-20 victory.
Seventh seed Ayush Shetty, winner of the US Open, failed to make it past the pre-quarterfinals after a 21-18, 21-16 loss to Malaysia’s Justin Hoh.
Meanwhile, world No. 9 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty fought back from a game down to overcome Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi.
After going behind, Satwik-Chirag had to save a match point in the second before edging it to force a decider. They eventually sealed the match 10-21, 22-20, 21-16.
India’s other men’s doubles pair of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K were ousted after a 21-18, 21-18 defeat against fourth seeds Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King of Malaysia.
India’s women’s singles campaign at the Macau Open came to an end after their only remaining player in the draw, Rakshitha Ramraj, went down fighting 14-21, 21-10, 21-11 against second seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand.
Women’s doubles duo Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra also exited the BWF Super 300 badminton tournament after a 21-14, 21-12 loss against Indonesia’s Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari and Rachel Allessya Rose.
In the mixed doubles, fifth seeds Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto were beaten 19-21, 21-13, 21-18 by Jimmy Wong and two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia.