Hylo Open 2025: India shuttler Lakshya Sen beats world number seven Popov to qualify for second round

Saarbrucken [Germany], October 29 : India's top-ranked men's shuttler, Lakshya Sen, stormed into the second round of the ongoing Hylo Open 2025 badminton tournament, with a victory over world number seven Christo Popov of France at the Saarlandhalle on Wednesday.
Lakshya, ranked 17 in the world, required just 47 minutes to beat the defending champion Christo Popov in straight games with a 21-16, 22-20 scoreline. The Paris 2024 Olympics semi-finalist and the 2019 Hylo Open champion exchanged phases of dominance with Popov in the opening game.
Popov managed to enjoy a narrow 16-15 lead, but Lakshya upped the ante and clinched six consecutive points to take the first game. In the second game, the 24-year-old managed to save two game points before standing triumphant. The win in 47 minutes marked Lakshya's sixth victory over Popov in eight games.
In the second round, Lakshya will square off against his compatriot Sankar Subramanian, who overcame a tough three-game challenge (21-14, 18-21, 21-16) against Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia to progress in the tournament.
Meanwhile, former world number one Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the tournament with a 21-19, 21-11 loss to Kiran George in an all-Indian badminton fixture. In the women's singles, world number 48 Shriyanshi Valishetty bamboozled third-seeded Danish shuttler Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt 21-19, 21-12 and will face fellow Rakshitha Ramraj, who trounced Spain's Clara Azurmendi 21-14, 21-16.
Young sensation Unnati Hooda defeated Brazil's Juliana Viana Vieira by a 21-4, 21-13 and will go head-to-head with Danish eighth seed Julie Dawall Jakobsen, who defeated Anmol Kharb by 26-24, 23-21 in a closely-fought battle. Anupama Upadhyaya, Aakarshi Kashyap, and Tanya Hemnath's women's singles campaign concluded after straight-game losses in their respective matches.