Resilient Lakshya overcomes Victor, to meet Lin Chun-Yi in final of All England Open

Lakshya Sen not only had to battle his opponent but also cramps and blisters on way to the men’s singles final of the All England Open Badminton Championships at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Saturday.

Lakshya Sen marched into the final by defeating Canada’s Victor Lai. Despite suffering from cramps and blisters, Lakshya, who is ranked 12th in the men’s singles, overcame a fighting world No. 16 Victor Lai 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 in a 97-minute-long affair.

The Indian player has been in fine touch in the ongoing BWF Super 1000 tournament. He knocked out world No. 1 and last year’s champion Shi Yuqi of the People’s Republic China in the opening round and came into Saturday’s match on the back of a win against the sixth-ranked Li Shi Feng, the reigning Asian Games champion, in the quarterfinals.

The 24-year-old Indian shuttler will face world No. 11 Lin Chun-Yi in what will be his career’s second BWF Super 1000 final. He had also made the All England Open summit clash back in 2022 but lost out to Viktor Axelsen.

Lakshya Sen is only the second Indian shuttler to qualify for two All England finals. Padukone won the crown in 1980 and finished runners-up a year later. Pics: BWF/Badminton Photo

Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand are the only Indian badminton players to have won the prestigious All England badminton title so far.

Lin Chun-Yi ousts Kunlavut Vitidsarn

Chinese Taipei Lin Chun-Yi beat former world champion and Paris 2024 Olympics silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the other semifinal clash to book his place in the final.

Vitidsarn, the 2023 world champion and Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist, had defeated Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan in straight games to make the last four, but he struggled early on against World No. 11 Lin, losing the first game 21-14.

The Thai shuttler recovered to win a close second game 21-18 before succumbing to a 21-16 defeat in the decider.

Lakshya and Victor match each other

On Saturday, Lakshya Sen and Victor Lai matched each other shot for shot in the early exchanges and neither let the other break away.

The crucial point of the opening game came when Lakshya was trailing 14-13. A cluster of three points saw him take a slender lead and then ride the momentum to surge ahead.

Lakshya was pushed to the backfoot early on in the second game, when his blistering issue aggravated, as Lai took a four-point lead into the break.

However, the Indian shuttler kept chipping away at the lead and finally drew level at 16-all. Lai, though, held his nerves under pressure to force a decider.

The third game saw Lakshya, now also suffering from cramps, take the initiative from the get-go and raced to a 16-14 lead. Lai managed to claw his way back into the contest with three successive points, reducing the deficit to just two.

Unfazed, Lakshya battled on and showed brilliant composure under pressure to win his first-ever meeting against Lai and secured a title shot in the process.

Paris 2024 semifinalist Lakshya Sen is only the second Indian shuttler to qualify for two All England finals. Padukone won the crown in 1980 and finished runners-up a year later.