India's Lakshya Sen loses in semifinals of King Cup International

Representational pic/ Lakshya Sen

India's Lakshya Sen fell out in the semifinals of the inaugural King Cup International Badminton Open, suffering a straight-game loss to reigning world junior champion Hu Zhe'an of China in the men's singles in China's Shenzhen on Saturday.

The 23-year-old from Almora fought hard but couldn't overcome the persistent Hu, losing 19-21, 19-21 in a gripping contest.

The match saw both shuttlers engaged in a close battle, with little separating them throughout. Hu had a slim one-point lead at the break after Lakshya's backhand went into the net. Hu, 18, who made his international debut in 2022, pressed on and won the opening game after Lakshya hit wide.

The second game followed a similar trend, with the score deadlocked at 6-6 before Hu pulled ahead to 12-10. Lakshya fought back, gaining a three-point lead at 19-16, but Hu showed off his attacking prowess with powerful smashes and exquisite drops to seal the victory.

Lakshya, who previously won the Syed Modi International Super 300 championship this month, defeated Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long in the quarterfinals of the three-day event, which has a prize pool of around USD 152,000.

Launched by two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China, the tournament will see eight men's singles players vying for top honours during the three-day. Paris Olympics silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand and world number 2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark are the highest-ranked players in the competition, which will not offer any ranking points as it is not part of the BWF calendar.

Other notable players include former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and Frenchman Alex Lanier. China will be represented by two 18-year-olds, Hu Zhe An and Wang Zi Jun.

Nitesh nominated for BWF's Para Badminton Player of the Year award

India's Paralympic champion Kumar Nitesh has been nominated along with three others for the men's Para Badminton Player of the Year, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on Monday.

Nitesh, who won his maiden gold medal in SL3 category at the Paris Paralympics, will be competing for the award with two-time Paralympic gold medallists Cheah Liek Hou (SU5) of Malaysia, Japan's Daiki Kajiwara (WH2) and China's Qu Zimo (WH1).

The 29-year-old Indian is also a two-time silver and one-time bronze medallist at the World Championships. In women's category, Li Feng Mei, Sarina Satomi, Liu Yu Tong and Leani Ratri Oktila have been nominated.

(With agency inputs)