Indian star badminton player Laksha Sen lost to local favorite and top seed Shi Yuqi in a row in the first round of the men’s singles match at the Asian Badminton Championships in Ningbo on Wednesday. World Championships bronze medalist Sen performed well and tried his best, but the higher-ranked Chinese team ultimately proved too strong and the Indians lost 19-21 15-21 in a grueling 53-minute opening match. The Indian team did not get off to an ideal start in the tournament, with the talented Priyanshu Rajawat also being eliminated in the first round of the men’s singles.

Rajawa was no match for eighth-seeded Malaysian Li Zijia, who lost 21-9, 21-13 in 39 minutes.

Panda sisters Rutupana and Svetapana also came to an end in the first round of women’s doubles. They lost to China’s seventh seeds Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu 21-8, 21-13.

Contrary to the final result, Sen challenged his Chinese opponent in the first game and did not allow him to have an aggressive start.

Sen showed excellent court coverage, keeping the Chinese team addicted to the long exchange, and then used his smash and perfect lob to score at the change of court to lead 11-7.

Sen maintained the lead until 14 points, although Qi started to get back into the game, wearing down Sen with a long standoff, and then finishing the scoring with a cross-court smash.

Zidane, ranked second in the world, scored 5 points in a row and eventually led 16-14.

But Sen was not in the mood to surrender without a fight. He evened the score at 19-19 and then won the first game evenly.

The script of the second game was also very similar, with both sides remaining in a stalemate until halftime.

Sen struggled to keep the game alive and made some great diving saves to deny his opponent an easy score, leading at one point 9-8.

Sen did not give up and worked hard to chase points, eventually chasing the score to 11-12.

But then unforced errors began to seep into the Indians’ game. He ran out of steam and conceded easy points, but Qiping regained control and won the second set.

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