Lakshya Sen, Tharun Mannepalli Reach Macau Open Badminton Semifinals

Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Tharun Mannepalli have advanced to the men's singles semifinals at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament. Mannepalli, ranked 47th globally, made his maiden semi-final appearance at a BWF Super 300 event after defeating China's Hu Zhe An in a 75-minute match, marking an improvement from his previous best at the German Open. Lakshya Sen, the second seed and Commonwealth Games gold medalist, secured a hard-fought victory over China's Zhu Xuan Chen and will face Indonesian fifth seed Alwi Farhan in the semifinals, while Mannepalli will play against Malaysia's Justin Hoh. However, the Indian men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty exited the tournament after a close quarterfinal loss to the Malaysian duo Choong Hon Jian and Haikal Muhammad. Both Sen and Mannepalli have shown strong performances, with Mannepalli benefiting from focused training at the Pullela Gopichand Academy to enhance his fitness and agility. The Indian contingent’s women’s singles campaign concluded earlier following Rakshitha Ramraj's defeat.