India\u2019s Lakshya Sen produced the biggest upset on the opening day of the All England championships, taking out world No.1 and defending champion Shi Yuqi 23-21, 19-21, 21-17 in the first round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to the match, Laksya had only beaten Yuqi once in five meetings, but he narrowed the gap after a grueling 78-minute encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 24-year-old, whose only previous win over Yuqi came in the Asian Games team championships, started aggressively and quickly opened a 17-10 lead in the first game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yuqi fought back to make it 18-17, but Lakshya, who was a finalist here in 2022, held his nerve to claim the opener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the second game, Yuqi dominated early, taking a 19-13 lead before a late resistance from Laksya. Yuqi won the game 21-19 to force the decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final game, Lakshya, the former world championships bronze medalist, controlled the net and flat exchanges, opening a 16-11 advantage before converting four match points to seal the victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also shown an early exit was third seed Anders Antonsen. The Dane went out tamely 8-21, 12-21 to Japan\u2019s Koki Watanabe in his opening match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eighth seeded Alex Lanier of France was also given a rude awakening after Canadian Victor Lai carved out hard-earned 21-12, 21-23, 23-21 win in 87-minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was, however, no such problem for women\u2019s singles top seed An Se-young. The Korean superstar eased to a 21-8, 21-6 win over Turkish No 1 Neslihan Arin in her opening match in just 27 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former world champions in the mixed doubles, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia, seeded fourth, were also sent packing home early. They were beaten 21-18, 12-21, 23-25 by Denmark\u2019s Rasmus Espersen-Amalia Cecil;ie Kudsk in the first round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the mixed doubles, eight seeds Mathias Christiansen-Alexander Boje were beaten 16-21, 18-21 by the unseeded Taiwanese pairing of Yang Po-Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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