Odense, Oct 15 (IANS): India’s Lakshya Sen fought valiantly but fell short in his opening-round match against China’s Lu Guang Zu, exiting the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament in a hard-fought three-game thriller.

Despite an early advantage, the 22-year-old from Almora eventually lost 21-12, 19-21, 14-21 in a 70-minute contest on Tuesday.

Lakshya, a bronze medallist at the 2021 World Championships, began the match in commanding fashion. After staying neck-and-neck with his Chinese opponent at 8-8, he surged ahead, taking an 11-9 lead at the mid-game interval.

A seven-point burst soon after saw the Indian race to a 20-11 lead, comfortably securing the opening game 21-12.

In the second game, Lakshya looked to be in control once again, sprinting to an 8-2 lead. However, Lu Guang Zu slowly clawed his way back, closing the gap to 11-12.

Despite Lakshya’s attempts to maintain the lead, the persistent Chinese shuttler turned the tide, leveling the match at 19-19 and winning the final two points to force a decider.

The third game saw Lu take control, as he built a 14-9 lead while Lakshya struggled to keep pace. With momentum firmly on his side, Lu capitalized on the Indian’s errors, earning six match points and eventually sealing the victory when Lakshya’s shot sailed long.

This marks another disappointment for Lakshya, who had recently lost in the second round of the Arctic Open in Finland. Competing in just his second event since finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics, Lakshya was hopeful of making a deep run in Denmark but will now have to regroup for future tournaments.

In other results, India’s Malvika Bansod also made an early exit, falling 13-21, 12-21 to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh in the women’s singles.

Meanwhile, the Panda sisters, Rutaparna and Swetaparna, fought hard but lost their opening-round women’s doubles match to Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun, 18-21, 22-24.