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Medal hopes continue to diminish for the Indian contingent with Lakshya Sen and the pair of Ashwini Ponnappa/N Sikki Reddy crashing out of the All England Open 2021 in the quarter-finals.
Only 2019 world champion PV Sindhu now remains in the fray and all eyes will be on her as she takes on arch-rival Akane Yamaguchi in her quarter-final later today.
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The 19-year-old Lakshya Sen, who had earlier become the youngest Indian shuttler to enter the last-eight of the All England Open, went down fighting to Netherland's Mark Caljouw, 17-21, 21-16, 17-21.
Meanwhile, the women's doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa/N Sikki Reddy could not overcome the Danish pair of Selena Piek and Cheryl Seinen, losing 22-24, 12-21.
Lakshya Sen's semi-final dream ends at the All England Open 2021
With veteran Indian men's singles shuttlers like Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap, HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma, and B Sai Praneeth exiting early, all hopes were pinned on Lakshya Sen at the All England Open 2021.
The 2018 Asian junior champion started off the proceedings against Caljouw well, matching the 26-year-old shot for shot. Caljouw's experience came in handy as he managed to edge the young Indian to take the first game 21-17.
The resilient Sen then put up a brave fight in the second game to pull off a 21-16 win. In the decider, Sen and Caljouw fought tooth and nail without letting any opportunity slip.
However, after an exhausting battle of 55 minutes, it was the lower-ranked Caljouw who had the last word as he sealed the match 21-17, 16-21, 21-17.
With Lakshya Sen's defeat, India doesn't have any more chances of winning a medal from men's singles.
Ponnappa/Sikki Reddy fail to advance at the All England Open 2021
Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy too had their campaign abruptly halted in the quarter-finals by the World No. 24 pair of Selena Piek and Cheryl Seinen.
A day after knocking out the sixth seeds Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva, the Indian combine could not take that momentum into the quarter-finals of the All England Open. Piek and Seinen held their nerves to show the door to the World No. 30 pair in 39 minutes.
