Defending champion Lakshya Sen's title defence lay in tatters after he suffered a narrow defeat against world No. 20 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in a thrilling three-game match at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super 750 tournament here on Thursday.
World No. 12 Sen squandered an opening game advantage to go down fighting 21-16, 15-21, 18-21 to Gemke in a second-round match that lasted an hour and 21 minutes at the IG Stadium here.
Earlier, reigning champions in men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrew from the tournament after the former suffered an injury ahead of their second-round clash.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly also lost 9-21, 16-21 to sixth-seeded Chinese Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu in the women's doubles pre-quarterfinals.
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