India endured a forgettable start to their 2025 BWF World Championships campaign in Paris as Lakshya Sen, Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda, and Shruti Mishra-Priya Konjengbam all lost their respective matches on Monday.
Sen, the 2021 world championships bronze medallist, went down 17-21, 19-21 to world No 1 and top seeded Chinese shuttler Shi Yu Qi in 54 minutes.
It was a slug fest with the two shuttlers often entangled in long rallies. Despite Sen’s defensive prowess on display, Shi more often than not found ways to win points at crucial junctures to advance to the second round.
Sen kept within touching distance of his opponent almost throughout the match but just couldn’t find ways to power through.
The 24-year-old Indian also had a tad bit of luck go his way as the chair umpire failed to notice that he returned the shuttle back after it had bounced on the ground while trailing 18-19 in the second game.
The key for Sen was to dominate the net and he did find decent bit of success when drawing the Chinese shuttler forward. But it was too little as Sen found himself lifting the shuttle far too often, giving Shi ample opportunities to power home winners.
The loss marked a fourth straight defeat against Shi for Sen, who now trails 1-4 in head-to-head encounters.
It also marked a eighth first round exit in the 2025 season for Sen, who continues to struggle for wins.
Panda sisters, Mishra-Konjengbam bow out
India’s campaign in the women’s doubles discipline came to a close on the very first day as Rutaparna-Swetaparna and Mishra-Konjenbam faced losses in their respective matches.
Rutaparna-Swetaparna had a good start to their match against Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva as they trailed 10-11 at the first mid-game interval.
However, they soon lost the plot as Gabriela and Stefani raced to take the opening game 21-12 after the break.
The Indians were never really in battle in the second game as the Stoeva sisters powered through to win it 21-11 and booked their spot in the second round.
Later in the day, it was a similar story for Mishra-Konjengbam, who started well in their match against the home pair of Margot Lambert and Camille Pognante before losing their grip.
Mishra-Konjengbam lost out 16-21, 17-21 in straight games.
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