Lakshya Sen storms into All England Open semi-final for 2nd time in career

Lakshya Sen, the only Indian badminton player still active at the All England Championships in Birmingham, moved into the semi-finals of the men’s singles draw after a tight win over Lee Zii Jia on Friday.

It took the Indian shuttler an hour and 11 minutes to beat the current world No 10 player from Malaysia 20-22, 21-16, 21-19 to move into the semi-final in his second consecutive tournament this season. Sen had finished in the top-four stage of the French Open Super 750 last week.

On Friday, the 22-year-old from Uttarakhand came out of the blocks quickly, racing to a 8-3 lead in the opening game. Lee however steadied the ship and climbed back up to trail 8-7, before Sen went on a four-point surge to lead 12-7.