All posts tagged: Guang

Lakshya vs Li Shifeng; Ayush vs Hong Yang & Prannoy vs Lu Guang Zu for China tie after Shi Yuqi still recovering at Thomas Cup | Badminton News

Lakshya vs Li Shifeng; Ayush vs Hong Yang & Prannoy vs Lu Guang Zu for China tie after Shi Yuqi still recovering at Thomas Cup | Badminton News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 29, 2026 11:14 AM IST With Shi Yuqi not having recovered from his acute gastroenteritis, Li Shifeng steps in his place as first singles against Lakshya Sen for the key Thomas Cup group tie to decide who finishes first or second. The tie starts 1.30 pm IST. It’s an interesting point in time for Li Shifeng. Not in the best of forms, he does have scores to settle against Sen, leading 8-7 in head to head overall, but having lost to the Indian at All England in 2026. Shifeng won all their faceoffs in 2025, but hasn’t been in best form this season. Stepping up to MS1 first singles, is a challenge, but Shifeng has always been a big occasion player. Sen lost to Victor Lai, but he is known to reserve his best for the big matches too. In 2023, he defeated Shi Yuqi in Asian Games Teams. It puts Ayush Shetty in unchartered territory, against China’s foxiest Weng Hong Yang, always a tricky customer in second singles. Their rankings are …

Lakshya Sen draws against Lu Guang Zu, Sindhu to face Pai

Lakshya Sen draws against Lu Guang Zu, Sindhu to face Pai

Published by Webster

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will return to action at the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament starting next week. The Indian shuttlers featured in the Arctic Open this week after a long break post-Olympics and the return was not good as both Sindhu and Lakshya suffered early exits. While Sindhu lost in the first round against Michelle Li of Canada, Lakshya lost to Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the second round after getting a walkover in the first round. In the men’s singles at the Denmark Open, Lakshya has an interesting draw where he will face Lu Guang Zu of China in the first round with a possibility of facing Jonatan Christie in the second round and world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the quarter-finals. It will not be easy for Lakshya who bottled a one-game lead against Chou in the Arctic Open. While Lakshya is the only Indian in men’s singles, four Indian shuttlers will feature in the women’s singles. PV Sindhu has been drawn against Pai Yu Po of …

In crunch time, Kiran George produces an aggressive finish to beat China’s World No.19 Lu Guang Zu | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Since the start of 2023, Kiran George had played out 14 tight finishes of 21-19, 22-20 or 23-21 score lines on the world tour, and won only 8 of those. One of India’s finest bludgeons from the back court, would fall back frustratingly in the endgame as his impressive strokeplay was rendered a footnote in losses. On Thursday, Kiran, the world No.36, literally went ballistic in finishing in the Round of 16 at Indonesia Masters, winning 21-11, 13-21, 21-18 against China’s World No.19 Lu Guang Zu. As he had missed out on opportunities to go deeper into draws, his coaches at the Prakash Padukone academy in Bangalore – Vimal Kumar, Sagar Chopda and DK Sen, had been drilling into him the importance of a strong, aggressive finish. Kiran’s father George Thomas, had heard it all too often, how his son wasn’t pushing the pedal when required. It was a hard watch because George, the 1991 Indian national champion, was known for his blistering pace and muscled aggression while killing off points. Kiran’s soft exits stung. …

HS Prannoy Loses To Lu Guang Zu in BWF World Tour Finals, Out Of Semifinal Race

Published by Webster

India’s HS Prannoy went down fighting in three games to China’s Lu Guang Zu in his second Group A match to bow out of the semifinal race at the BWF World Tour Finals on Thursday. The 30-year-old from Kerala, who had lost to the same opponent in his only meeting at the French Open this year, put up a brave effort but couldn’t go the distance, losing 21-23 21-17 19-21 in a gruelling 84-minute contest. It was his second loss in Group A following the opening match defeat to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka. The world no. 12 Indian will face world number one and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in his final Group A match on Friday. Axelsen topped the group after beating Naraoka 21-5 21-15 in a lop-sided contest. The Dane had also defeated Lu in straight games on Wednesday. With the top two players in the group making it to the knockout stage, it will be either Naraoka or Lu joining Axelsen in the semifinals. The match started on an equal footing with both the players …