Australian Open 2022 badminton: Lakshya Sen withdraws due to throat infection
The Commonwealth Games champion has decided to conclude his 2022 season and prepare for 2023.
India’s top-ranked badminton player Lakshya Sen has withdrawn from the Australian Open 2022 BWF Super 300 tournament citing a throat infection.
Lakshya Sen, eighth in the badminton world rankings, won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in August. However, after undergoing nose surgery for a deviated nasal septum after the world championships, Lakshya Sen hasn't been in top form.
Lakshya Sen faltered in the round of 16 at the world badminton championships in August and has made three first-round exits in four BWF tournaments since then.
“The surgery went on very well but I couldn’t play at my 100 percent all the time," Lakshya Sen told PTI.
Sen said that he felt low going into last week’s Hylo Open in Germany. "I had fever, throat pain and weakness after I reached Saarbrucken (Germany). I probably picked the infection while travelling from Paris," Sen informed.
"I was training last Sunday (October 30) and then on Monday, I felt it had aggravated. It is under control now but given the situation, I have decided to pull out of the Australian Open," the shuttler added.
With only the top eight players in the BWF World Tour Rankings making the cut for the BWF World Tour Finals in December, Lakshya Sen, 10th in the World Tour rankings, has decided to conclude his 2022 season and prepare well for 2023.
"I had sent my entries for the Australian Open as I thought it would help me to qualify for the World Tour Finals but now it is not possible anymore. It is better that I take some weeks off, get back to full fitness and start with my off-season training to be ready for the next season."
The Australian Open is scheduled to be held from November 15 to 20 in Sydney.