Fast-rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen made a successful return to competitive badminton, beating Christo Popov in straight games in the opening round of $750,000 Denmark Open which restarted the international calendar after a coronavirus forced break of seven months.
The 19-year-old Indian, who had claimed five titles including two Super 100 tournaments last year, produced a clinical performance to outwit Popov 21-9 21-15 to reach the second round.
He will take on the winner of the match between Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus and Belgium’s Maxime Moreels.
Denmark Open Super 750 is the only event happening this year with BWF forced to cancel multiple events and postpone the Asia leg and World Tour Final next year.