Lakshya Sen beats China's Li Shi Feng to win Canada Open 2023 title

This is the Indian star's second BWF World Tour 500 title.

India's Lakshya Sen defeated fifth seed Li Shi Feng of China in straight games (21-18, 22-20) to clinch the men's singles title at the Canada Open 2023 - a BWF 500 tournament. This was Lakshya's first title since his gold medal winning run at the Commonwealth Games last year and overall, his fourth BWF World Tour title.

Enroute to the Canada Open title run, the WR-19, defeated three top ranked players - second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn, fourth seed Kenta Nishimoto, and fifth seed Li Shi Feng.

The match started on a bright note with Lakshya Sen, 21, winning the net battle at the start. Li Shi Feng is usually known to be a strong player in front of the net, but Lakshya did not budge rather took up the challenge. Post the initial tussle at the net, the action shifted to sheer power with Li Shi Feng hitting two 390kmph+ smashes followed by the Indian with two 400kmph+ winners with the opening game evenly balanced.

Sen went into the mid-game interval with a good lead but the Chinese shuttler from 12-15 down at one stage levelled the scoreline at 15-15 — helped by a few unforced errors from Lakshya. Next up, it was the Commonwealth Games 2022 champion's turn to win three successive points and from here on, there was no looking back as the Indian won the opening game 21-18.

It was even stevens (6-6) to start the proceedings in the second game with both shuttlers exchanging points in succession. Unlike the previous game, Li Shi Feng showed up with his 'A' game near the net, scoring three quick points along with good anticipation. The Chinese held on to a healthy four-point lead at the mid-game interval with Lakshya hanging around.

The latter half of the second game lived up to the expectations of a finale. Li Shi Feng had four game points in hand at 20-16 but the Indian did not hold back. Sen rather held his nerve and won six straight points to claim the title, winning the game 22-20 in a gruelling 50-minute encounter. Although the match finished inside two games, the Chinese was never out of the contest, but few errors proved costly.