- By Namrata Vijay
- Mon, 25 Aug 2025 08:58 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Lakshya Sen vs Shi Yuqi BWF World Championships 2025: Lakshya Sen's attempt to redeem himself in Paris couldn't even last for 54 minutes as the star Indian badminton player had put up a fight against China's Shi Yuqi during the first round of the BWF World Championships. Shi Yuqi defeated him by 17-21, 19-21 during the first round of the ongoing tournament and at the same venue, where he had suffered a heartbreak during the Olympics last year.
The 2021 bronze medalist had put up a valiant fight and tried to pile pressure on Shi, who had entered the tournament on the back of a brilliant form by winning the China and Japan Open earlier this year, along with the All England title.
The match consisted of long rallies and swift exchanges, and it was forced towards the decider. Sen was trailing by a small margin during the mid-game intervals as the scorecard was 9-11 during the first half and 7-11 during the second, but bounced back brilliantly. The scores were leveled at 19-19 during the second game, and Sen had a chance to dominate but succumbed under pressure as Shi won the match.
Sen had performed consistently during the previous edition of the World Championships, as he had won the bronze medal way back in 2021 and then had qualified for pre-quarterfinals during 2022 and 2023. And on Monday, he marked his earliest exits in the ongoing tournament.
This was also his ninth first-round exit of an already inconsistent season, which has been affected by two injury setbacks and a dip in his form. Besides qualifying for the All England Open quarterfinal this year, the youngster was seen struggling to find form in big tournaments.
A POSITIVE SIGN?
Still, his performance in Paris looked promising. Sen was at his absolute best in patches as he was able to defend himself brilliantly and was sometimes excessively passive while attacking. His smashes lacked placement as compared to Shi Yuqi's cross-court winners.
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After the first game, Sen's coaches told him that he should lift the shuttle less and should work on having a tighter net game, which would help him to stop Shi's attack. But China's star shuttler always kept him on the back foot and thus won the match in straight games.
The foundation of the match was set earlier when Lakshya Sen and Shi Yuqi were involved in a 47-shot rally during the first game. Both the shuttlers moved swiftly across the court, but Shi's defence was brilliant during the early exchanges.
The drift moved from right to left during the first game and provided some assistance to Lakshya, but he didn't have the conviction to take advantage of the available space. Lakshya, who was trailing by just two points at the mid-game break, lost momentum after that, and his efforts thus went in vain.
Sen started the second game on a high note, but yet again failed to take advantage of the attacking chances. From 18-19, he did gain an advantage as he had scored a point owing to an umpiring error, as the shuttle had clearly bounced before he could retrieve it. Shi did try to challenge the decision, but the decision went in Lakhsya's favour. Lakshya couldn't maintain his momentum, and the scorecard was reading at 19-19, and he missed the chance of taking the game to the decider.
With Sen getting a tough draw, his chances of progressing in this tournament had already been affected, as he had faced an in-form Shi Yuqi during the first round itself. The youngster had exuded confidence ahead of the tournament.
This venue has been quite difficult for Sen. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, he had qualified for the semifinals but lost to Viktor Axelsen, even though he had dominated during both games. He then lost to Lee Zii Jia during the bronze medal match and thus fell short of a well-deserved medal.