Macau Open 2025: Double heartbreak as Tharun Mannepalli and Lakshya Sen bow out in semifinals

It was a disappointing day for Indian badminton at the 2025 Macau Open Super 300, as both Tharun Mannepalli and Lakshya Sen crashed out in the men’s singles semifinals, ending the country’s hopes of a title in Macau.

Earlier in the day, Tharun Mannepalli, ranked 47th in the world, went down fighting to Malaysia’s Justin Hoh in a tense three-game thriller that lasted an hour and 21 minutes. Despite taking the first game, Tharun eventually lost 21-19, 16-21, 16-21, unable to recover from a string of errors in the decider.

The 23-year-old Indian started strongly, racing to an 11-6 lead in the opening game. Though Hoh clawed back to level at 18-all, Tharun showed good composure to seal the first game with a crisp straight return. But the Malaysian turned things around in the second, capitalising on Tharun’s misjudged shots and unforced errors. In the decider, Tharun again led early but couldn’t sustain the pressure. Hoh surged ahead after the mid-game interval and closed out the match with a clever drop shot that caught the Indian flat-footed.

Later in the day, Lakshya Sen, India’s top hope at the tournament, suffered a straight-game defeat against Indonesia’s rising star Alwi Farhan, going down 16-21, 9-21 in just under 45 minutes.

Farhan dominated from the outset, using his superior movement and deception to outplay Lakshya, who looked out of sorts throughout the contest. After a relatively close first game, the Indonesian ran away with the second, not allowing the Indian any chance to build momentum.

With both Tharun and Lakshya bowing out, India's campaign in the men's singles category at the Macau Open 2025 comes to an end at the semifinal stage.