Recovers from 1 game down to win the MS QF at All England Badminton Championships
Persistent with his net play, defence, and calculated aggression, Lakshya Sen overcame the early jitters of game 1 to win the men’s singles quarterfinal at the All England Badminton Championships 2024. With Lakshya being the lone Indian challenger remaining in this year’s All England, the pressure was on him to deliver when it matters most.
He was up against World No. 10, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, who is known for his high-speed smashes. After winning the 1st game 22-20, Lee took early control of the second game before Lakshya rallied back from a deficit of 1-3 to win 5 points on the trot, leading 6-3. Lee, the former World No. 2, then rallied back strongly to narrow his deficit by 1 point. It was then raining smashes from both players, as the score was level at 14 all. Lakshya rallied with some intelligent play and swiftly moved to take the lead at 19-16. It was just formality then to close the second game, as Lakshya forced the match into the 3rd game winning 21-16.
Lakshya took control early in the third game. A fury of 6 smashes in a row, a couple of unforced errors by Lee, one on service and the other over hitting the smash, gave Lakshya the lead of 3 points at the midway mark, 11-8. Fatigue was evident after the break on both players, as they both committed unforced errors. The battle was now at the nets with alternating smashes, as Sen took the lead at 16-13. With both players understanding each other’s game well at this time, it was Lee who played some brilliant badminton to bring the scores level at 19-19 in the decider. That was all the drama, as Lakshya Sen closed the game quickly with caution to win the match 20-22 21-16 21-19. With this win, he has booked his berth in the MS SF at the All England Badminton Championships 2024. He will face World No. 9 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia for a place in the final.