Sen and Kiran enter quarters in Thailand

While other Indian shuttlers faltered in the first two rounds of the $420,000 Thailand Open, two Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) boys made the quarterfinals quite comprehensively in Bangkok on Thursday.

Academy mates Lakshya Sen and Kiran George made the last eight of the Super 500 event following straight-game wins at the Indoor Stadium Huamark.

Sen hasn’t had a great run in a tournament since winning the Commonwealth Games in August 2022, making the quarters of some while mostly exiting tournaments in the first couple of rounds. But the world No. 23 is playing better in the Thailand capital than he has in recent times.

After beating Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu-wei in the opener, the 21-year-old Sen ousted reigning All England Open champion and Chinese fourth seed Li Shifeng 21-17, 21-15 in 49 minutes. This was Sen’s second win over the world No. 12 in seniors as the two have also played multiple matches at the junior level, the most famous being the 2018 Youth Olympics final where the Chinese came out on top.

Sen will be up against Malaysian qualifier Leong Jun Hao with the Indian winning the only encounter between them at the senior level in 2019. If Sen wins on Friday he will enter his first semi-final since Birmingham 2022. Since then the Thomas Cup champion took a break due to a minor surgery for deviated nasal septum.

During this time Sen also split with South Korean coach Yoo Yong-sung in September 2022 due to communication issues. PPBA then roped in Anup Sridhar in January to train the youngster.

Satwik-Chirag lose

Meanwhile, it was the end of the road for men’s doubles top seeds and former champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who lost to the Indonesian pairing of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana 26-24, 11-21, 17-21. This was the Indian pair’s first loss in four meetings against the world No.14 combine. Earlier, former winner Saina Nehwal lost to Chinese third seed He Bingjiao 11-21, 14-21.