Dutch Open: Lakshya, Rahul set up quarterfinal clash

Lakshya Sen and B.M. Rahul Bharadwaj progressed to the quarterfinals of the men’s singles event at the Dutch Open Super 100 tournament.

Lakshya Sen registered a fighting three-game win over Ygor Coelho of Brazil.

Young Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and B.M. Rahul Bharadwaj progressed to the quarterfinals of the men’s singles event at the Dutch Open Super 100 tournament here on Thursday.

Lakshya, who had claimed the Belgian Open last month, entered the quarterfinals after registering a fighting three-game win over Ygor Coelho of Brazil.

The 18-year-old from Almora defeated Coelho 21-13, 16-21, 21-10 in a tough pre-quarterfinal contest that lasted for 43 minutes.

Rahul too advanced to the last eight round after stunning sixth seed Victor Svendsen of Denmark 21-17, 24-26, 21-8 in marathon one hour and 14 minutes contest.

But one of the two Indians — Lakshya or Rahul — will crash out in the next round as they have been pitted against each other in the quarterfinals.

Another Indian in fray, top seed Sameer Verma, who had skipped events at China and Korea due to fitness issues, will take on Japan’s Yusuke Onodera in the round of 16 later on Thursday night.