He couldn’t have found a better place to announce his arrival than the 81st Senior National badminton championship.
Playing his first Nationals, Lakshya Sen all of 15 years, and recently crowned the World Junior No. 1, stunned the top seed H.S. Prannoy of Petroleum 15-21, 21-18, 21-19 here on Sunday, to enter the quarterfinals.
As much as the stunning victory, it was the manner in which he handled the pressure that came in for much praise. Never for a moment did the kid from Almora make a noise or celebrate exuberantly after winning a point.
On the tour, Lakshya, the reigning junior National champion, is known for his no-nonsense approach and his disregard for opponent’s reputation. It was in full view this day.
Not being perturbed even after losing the first game, where Prannoy blew away Lakshya with powerful smashes from the backcourt, the level of calmness and confidence Lakshya displayed is not generally expected from boys his age.
In the next two games, he grabbed the half-chances that came his way. During crunch moments, his defence was solid, retrieving the top seed’s smashes and going for the kill with his cross-court smashes which gave Prannoy little chance.
At the net, Prannoy fluffed his forehand and backhand drops quite often especially in the third game, and an unruffled Lakshya kept his composure to script a famous win.
Lakshya will next take on Daniel Farid of Karnataka, who put it across Rohit Yadav of Telangana in tough three games.
In other interesting matches, Pratul Joshi, seeded five, had to bring all his resources to outwit Ansal Yadav of Uttar Pradesh 21-13, 19-21, 21-18. Pratul will be challenged by Harsheel Dani of Maharashtra in the last eight clash.
Sameer Verma, the second seed, who had a difficult third round against Subhankar Dey, eased past Karnataka’s M.G. Hemant in straight games in the next.
In the women’s section, Tanvi Lad faced her first resistance in three matches against Shruti Mundada. The top seed from Petroleum emerged unscathed with a 21-15, 21-15 win. Earlier, Reshma Karthik of Air India tamed Anura Prabhudesai of AAI, the sixth seed. Reshma didn’t give Anura the height and width to unleash her trademark smashes or cross-court drops.
The results (pre-quarterfinals): Men: Lakshya Sen (Utr) bt H.S. Prannoy (Pet) 15-21, 21-18, 21-19; Sourabh Verma (Pet) bt Kaushal Dharmamer (AAI) 21-19, 21-15; Harsheel Dani (Mah) bt M. Mithun (AI) 21-18, 21-14; Pratul Joshi (AAI) bt Ansal Yadav (UP) 21-13, 19-21, 21-18; Daniel Farid (Kar) bt Rohit Yadav (TS) 17-21, 23-21, 21-11; Bodhit Joshi (Utr) bt A.S.S. Siril Varma (TS) 21-19, 21-14; Sameer Verma (Pet) bt M.G. Hemant (Kar) 21-9, 21-6; Aditya Prakash (Pet) bt Munawar Mohammed (Ker) 21-18, 21-18.
Womens: Tanvi Lad (Pet) bt Shruti Mundada (Mah) 21-15, 21-15; Rituparna Das (TS) bt Ananya Goel (Del) 21-8, 21-7; Rasika Raje (AAI) bt Neha Pandit (Mah) 21-16, 28-26; Reshma Karthik (AI) bt Aruna Prabhudesai (AAI) 21-10, 21-15; Arundhati Pantawane (Pet) bt Shriyanshi Pardeshi (MP) 16-21, 21-19, 21-18; Saili Rane (Rly) bt Ashmita Chaliha (Asm) 20-22, 21-11, 21-18; Aakarshi Kashyap (Cht) bt Ira Sharma (Har) 21-12, 21-16; Riya Pilai (Mah) bt A.J. Niranjana (AAI) 21-6, 21-10.
Third round: Men: singles: H.S. Prannoy (PSPB) bt Pallab Bose 21-8, 21-14; Lakshya Sen (Utr) bt Talar Laa (Anp) 21-14, 21-16; S. Daniel Farid (Kar) bt Alap Mishra (MP) 21-11, 21-17; C. Rahul Yadav (TS) bt Kabir Kanzarkar (Rly) 21-15, 21-12; Harsheel Dani (Mah) bt Abhishek Yeligar (Kar) 21-19, 15-21, 21-15; M. Mithun (AI) bt Kiran George (Ker) 21-12, 21-12; Aditya Prakash (PSPB) bt Deepak Khatri (Rly) 21-19, 21-17; Munawer Mohammed (Ker) bt Karan Chouhan (Guj) 21-17, 22-20; Bodhit Joshi (Guj) bt Kartikey Gulshan Kumar (AI) 11-21, 21-12, 21-18; Ansal Yadav (UP) bt Saurav Kapoor (HP) 21-13, 21-15; A.S.S. Siril Verma (TS) bt Neeraj Vashisth (Rly) 24-22, 21-10; Kaushal Dharmamer (AAI) bt Kaustubh Rawat (Del) 21-15, 21-8; Sameer Verma (PSPB) bt Subhankar Dey (Rly) 19-21, 21-14, 21-9; M.G. Hemanth (Kar) bt D. Jaswanth (AP) 21-18, 10-21, 21-15.
Women: singles: Tanvi Lad (PSPB) bt Khushboo Patel (MP) 21-11, 21-14; Riya Pillai (Mah) bt Ishita Kumar Manchander (Cht) 21-18, 21-17; Shruti Mundada (Mah) bt K. Vaishnavi (TS) 21-19, 21-18; Reshma Kartik (AI) bt Rutaparna Panda (Ori) 21-12, 21-10; Ira Sharma (Har) bt Shenan Christian (Guj) 14-21, 21-14, 21-17; Arundhati Pantawane (PSPB) bt Devarshi Sanghvi (Guj) 21-11, 21-17; Shriyanshi Pardeshi (MP) bt Shikha Gautam (Kar) 21-14, 21-17; Ashmita Chaliha (Asm) bt Sai Uttejitha Rao Ch. (AP) 21-18, 20-22, 21-14; Anura Prabhudesai (AAI) bt Mrunmayi Saoji (Mah) 21-11, 25-23; Aakarshi Kashyap (Cht) bt K. Sri Krishna Priya (TS) 18-21, 21-18, 21-17; A.J. Niranjana (Ker) bt Anuriya Das (Rly) 11-12 (conceded); Saili Rane (Rly) bt V. Pramada (TS) 21-16, 21-12; Rasike Raje (AAI) w/o Kaberi Phukon (Rly); Neha Pandit (Mah) bt M. Tanishq (AP) 21-15, 21-14; Ananya Goel (Del) bt Unnati Bisht (Utr) 21-15, 21-13; Rituparna Das (TS) w/o Chimran Kalita (Asm).
