India’s hope of a medal in the BWF World Junior Championship would solely rest on former junior world No 1 Lakshya Sen after all his compatriots bit the dust in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.
Sen, who is one of the pre-tournament favourites given his success even on the senior circuit this year, hammered local hope Muhammad Rehan Diaz 21-12, 21-12 in just 36 minutes at Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He will now face Japanese sixth seed Kodai Naroka for a berth in the semifinals.
Earlier, Kartikey Gulshan Kumar had squandered a first game advantage to go down 18-21, 21-15, 21-13 in an hour and two minutes against Ireland’s Nguyen Nhat in the round of 16 while third seeded doubles combination of G Krishna Prasad and Dhruv Kapila were shown the door by Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy and Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob 21-17, 21-17.
India’s girl’s singles campaign also came to an end when Gayatri Gopichand Pullela’s run in the competition was brought to a halt by Cai Yanyan 21-7, 21-11 in just 24 minutes.