India's Lakshya Sen staged a remarkable comeback to secure a second-round spot at the All England Championships on Tuesday (March 11), while compatriot HS Prannoy suffered an early exit in the men's singles competition.

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World No. 15 Lakshya fought back from a game down to defeat Chinese Taipei’s world No. 37, SU Li Yang, with a hard-fought 13-21, 21-17, 21-15 victory in the opening round of the prestigious Super 1000 event. The 23-year-old from Almora will now take on Indonesia’s third seed, Jonatan Christie, whom he had defeated during his fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics last year.

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Meanwhile, HS Prannoy, a bronze medallist at the 2023 World Championships and Asian Games, fell short against France’s Toma Junior Popov. Despite a 53-minute battle, the world No. 29 Indian lost 19-21, 16-21 to the 17th-ranked Frenchman. Prannoy had his chances in the first game, leading 6-1 and later 15-12, but Popov turned the contest around with a strong finish. In the second game, Prannoy fought back from 9-13 to level at 13-13, but Popov’s aggressive play saw him close out the match convincingly.

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Satish-Aadya lose

In the mixed doubles category, the Indian pair of Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath faced a tough challenge against China’s world No. 7 duo, Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui. The Indian team lost 6-21, 15-21 in a 51-minute encounter.

Lakshya’s match was an intense contest, with the Indian bouncing back in the second game after a tight battle until 17-17. He capitalized on three crucial errors from Yang to clinch four consecutive points and force a decider. In the third game, Lakshya led 11-9 at the interval. Though Yang fought back to level at 15-15, Lakshya displayed composure and dominance, securing the last six points with a combination of powerful returns, a body smash, and unforced errors from his opponent.

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On Wednesday, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and world No. 1 men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will begin their campaign.

(With inputs from agencies)