Top seeds Lakshya Sen, Kashyap march on

NEW DELHI, Dec 21: Commonwealth Games gold medallist and top seed Lakshya Sen and top-billed Aakarshi Kashyap reached the men’s and women’s singles third round respectively in the 85th Senior National Badminton Championships here on Thursday.
Sen warded off T Sidarth 21-8, 21-5, while Aakarshi was made to sweat by Rituparna Das before emerging a 21-18, 21-11 winner in 32 minutes.
Sen and Sidarth were cautious in the first game as the players fought for each point until they reached a tie at 5-5. He then accelerated to secure the first game at 21-8.
The ace shuttler totally dominated the second game to win it 21-5 and wrapped the match in just 25 minutes.
Later, BWF 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medallist Ayush Shetty faced a tough challenge from Neer Nehwal but emerged victorious 23-25, 21-18, 21-12.
He will face seventh-seeded Alap Mishra in the next round.
Second-seeded Ashmita Chaliha defeated Suzen Burhagohain 21-13, 21-10 to set up a face-off with Delhi’s Rishika Nandi.
Unnati Hooda, the 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters champion, triumphed over Manisha Rani Tirkey of Jharkhand 21-11, 21-17, setting up a third-round clash with Tanvi Sharma.
Sharma, the silver medallist in Badminton Asia’s U17 and U15 Junior Championships in 2023, faced a tough time against Shreya Lele, ultimately securing a 21-18, 22-24, 21-13 victory in 56 minutes.
Defending champion and former Junior world No. 1 Anupama Upadhyaya defeated Taneesha Singh 21-5, 21-12.
In the mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto cruised to a 21-5, 21-14 win over Abdul Rahman Syed and Mamaikya Lanka.
The duo is set to face Chayanit Joshi and Kavya Gupta in the next round. (PTI)