India’s Lakshya Sen exited the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament after losing to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the men’s singles first round. The straight-game defeat ended with scores of 7-21, 16-21 against world number 29 Nhat.Despite defeating Nhat in three games at the Denmark Open last week, the 24-year-old Indian player from Almora struggled to find his rhythm in Paris. His performance was marked by repeated errors, hitting wide and into the net.Sen’s deep tosses frequently missed their mark, while his attacking play lacked accuracy. He fell behind early, trailing 2-7 in the opening game.Despite controlling many rallies, Sen struggled with his finishing shots. A wide return left him six points behind at the interval, and he couldn’t recover as Nhat extended his lead to 19-7 before claiming the first game with a cross-court winner.The second game showed little improvement for the world No. 16 Indian players. He quickly fell behind 1-6, and although he reduced the gap to 4-6, unforced errors allowed Nhat to build an 11-5 lead at the break.Sen attempted a comeback, reaching 11-15, but crucial mistakes hindered his progress. At 14-17, a long rally ended with a backhand into the net, and additional errors gave Nhat six match points.The Indian saved two match points, but the Irish player secured victory with a deceptive cross-court shot, ending Sen’s French Open campaign.
