Canada Open 2023: Lakshya Sen storms into final, PV Sindhu crashes out

This will be Sen's first final in the BWF World Tour this season.

India's Lakshya Sen defeated higher ranked and fourth seed Kenta Nishimoto in straight games (21-17, 21-14) to progress to the final in men's singles of Canada Open 2023. This is Lakshya's first BWF World Tour final this season with his previous best performance coming last month at Thailand Open where he reached the semis. On the other hand, PV Sindhu had a tough outing against World No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi and went down in straight games (14-21, 15-21) in the women's singles semi-final clash.

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Commonwealth Games 2022 champion, Lakshya Sen, stormed into final of men's singles with a rather comfortable victory against the WR-11 Kenta Nishimoto. The Indian always kept the Japanese on the back foot and was constantly targeting the back court which went in his favour.

With this win, Sen now enjoys a positive h2h record (2-1) against Nishimoto and next up, will be up against fifth-seed Li Shi Feng of China against whom he enjoys a favourable 4-2 record in head-to-head meetings.

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Earlier in the day, two -time Olympic medallist, Sindhu, had a huge task cut out taking on in-form Akane Yamaguchi. Although, Sindhu, 28, had a positive h2h (14-10) before coming into this encounter, her recent form, in particular, this season hasn't been satisfactory, with the Indian losing to the Japanese previously at the Singapore Open in three games.

Sindhu started well but lost a bit of pace at the mid-game interval. However, with a few trademark on-body smashes and cross court slices, Sindhu made a good comeback and was carrying good momentum till 14-16. At this point, luck stood in Akane's favour as the shuttle dropped considerably in front of PV Sindhu ricocheting the net, which the Indian didn't expect. From here on the match, tilted in the Japanese favour, as Yamaguchi won six straight points to claim the opening game.

The Indian started the following game on a comfortable note holding onto a considerable amount of lead till the mid-game interval. This was also the first time; Sindhu was leading in the match for a brief period but that was short lived with the match once again tilting in Akane's favour in the latter stages.

From (10-13), the Japanese won eleven points out of the next 12 points handing herself a place in the final. Although Sindhu lost the semi-finals clash in straight games, this was arguably one of her best performances against the top ranked players in recent times.

India's performance on day 5 of Canada Open 2023

Men's Singles Semi-Finals

Lakshya Sen beat Kenta Nishimoto (21-17, 21-14)

Women's Singles Semi-Finals

PV Sindhu lost to Akane Yamaguchi/Thuy Linh Nguyen (14-21, 15-21)