Sen and Saina crash out of Indian Open as Axelsen sails Murray, Jokic help Nuggets rally past Timberwolves, Hawks win England thrash Spain to leave India uphill task to top group
new delhi: Defending champion Lakshya Sen’s unbeaten run at the India Open 2023 came to an end ater he went down fighting in a thrilling three-game contest against Denmarks Rasmus Gemke in the men’s singles second round at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.
Sen won the opening game but Gemke fought back by engaging the Indian in long rallies to win 16-21, 21-15, 21-18 in the BWF World Tour Super 750 event, organised by the Badminton Association of India.
Later, Saina Nehwal lost to Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China 9-21-, 12-21 in the women’s singles second round clash
Gemke will now face top seed and compatriot Viktor Axelsen, who got the beter of China’s Shi Yu Qi 21-16, 16-21, 21-9 earlier in the day.
Also advancing to the next round were fourth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, third seed Loh kean Yew of Singapore and fith seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in men’s singles and top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, Spaniard Carolina Marin and He Bingjiao of China in women’s singles.
The second-round clash between Sen and Gemke kept the spectators glued to their seats in the decider as Sen fought back from 8-14 deficit to make it 13-14. The two players then engaged in energy sapping rallies, one even extending to 69 shots.
It, however, ended in a heart break for the Indian as he hit a net tap long to hand victory to Gemke after an hour and 21 minutes battle.
Meanwhile, in a major blow, India’s top men’s doubles pair Chirag Shety and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, the defending champions, on Thursday pulled out of their second-round match due to injury concerns, Badminton Association of India (BAI) said.
“India’s top men’s doubles pair #Satchi has unfortunately pulled out of the tournament due to an injury. A sad moment for all of us!” the BAI tweeted.
The star duo withdrew from the match against the Chinese pair Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi due to a groin injury suffered by Satwik.
On Tuesday, the World No. 5 pair registered an easy 21-13, 21-15 opening-round win over Scotland’s Christopher Grimley and Mathew Grimley in just 41 minutes. denver: Jamal Murray hit a go-ahead floater with 55.9 seconds remaining, Nikola Jokic broke Denver’s record for assists on the way to his 14th triple-double of the season, and the Nuggets rallied for a 122-118 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
Jokic finished with 31 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds as he navigated foul trouble. The twotime reigning NBA MVP passed Alex English for the most assists in team history. Jokic has 3,686 career assists in 568 games - English recorded 3,679 over 837 games in a Denver uniform.
Jokic’s teammates made sure to appreciate the achievement. Never one to dwell too much on individual accolades, Jokic said he appreciated this particular mark.
Murray took over down the stretch to help the Western Conference-leading Nuggets win their 15th straight at home.
The Nuggets trailed 118-115 when Murray hit a 3-pointer with 2:05 remaining to tie the game. Then, he nailed a driving floater to give Denver a lead it didn’t relinquish.
Bruce Brown finished with 16 points for a Denver team playing the second game of a back-to-back. Nuggets coach Michael Malone remained in the NBA’S health and safety protocol for a second straight game. David Adelman filled in as acting head coach.
Adelman compared the combination of Murray and Jokic to a modern-day version of John Stockton and karl Malone. Given the way Jokic passes, though, it’s hard to say who would represent who.
Jaden Mcdaniels led seven Minnesota players in double figures with 18 points. The Timberwolves led by 10 early in the second half.
It was an evenful first quarter for Jokic, who had a basket taken away on review (shot-clock violation) and an offensive foul rescinded courtesy of a challenge. He still had 13 points in the period and five assists, including a full-length pass to Brown for a dunk.
HAWKS DOWN MAVERICKS: Dejounte Murray scored 30 points, Trae Young had 18 points and 12 assists in another matchup with Luka Doncic and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Dallas Mavericks 130-122 on Wednesday night.
John Collins added 19 points as the Hawks won a season-best fourth consecutive game to get over .500 (23-22) for the first time since Dec. 27.
Doncic scored 30 points but fell to 4-3 in headto-headmeetingswithyoungsincetheyweretraded for each other as top-five picks on drat night in 2018. Doncic went third overall and Young fith. bhubaneswar: Riding on a superb defensive display, England shut out Spain 4-0 in their last league match of Pool D and set them up in the prime position to top the standings and bag a direct spot in the quarter-final of the ongoing Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
England came into the match with four points from two matches and led India on goal difference (+5 against +2). By winning 4-0 against Spain on Thursday, England set India an uphill task of scoring eight goals to overtake them on goal difference or scoring seven goals with six field goals in their final Pool D match against Wales to finish on top of the table and claim the direct berth into the quarterfinals.
The team that finishes second and Spain will make it to the crossover matches.
England and Spain went into the match with the English needing to win to finish on top of the table. Spain needed to win to secure the second spot.
Phil Roper (10th min), David Condon (21st min), Nicholas Bandurak(50th min) and Liam Ansell (51st) scored for England as they made a good start, quelled a fightback from Spain in the second and third quarter before scoring twice in the final quarter to seal a comfortable victory.
England thus finished the group phase of the 2023 World Cup unbeaten and without conceding a goal.
They went into the lead in the 10th minute when Phil Roper scored off a penalty corner, slamming home a rebound ater the goalkeeper had blocked the drag flick. Spain created a few chances but were thwarted by solid defending by England, who led 1-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Spain had more possession in the second quarter but it was England who were successful, with Condon scoring in the 21st minute, pushing in a quick pullback from the backline. England defended their fort strongly in the second quarter as they led 2-0 at half-time.
Spain dominated possession in the first half-half but England had more circle penetrations and shots at the goal. They earned two penalty corners as compared to one by Spain and converted one PC.
Spain had their best chance in the third quarter when Borja Lacalle pushed wide from near the six-yard spot with a fine pass by Gerard Clapes off a superb run.