Japan Open 2023: Lakshya Sen out after semi-final defeat against Jonatan Christie

This is Lakshya's second consecutive semi-final loss.

India's Lakshya Sen lost a hard-fought battle to fifth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia (15-21, 21-13, 16-21) in the semi-finals of Japan Open 2023. This was Lakshya's third consecutive semi-final appearance in the BWF World Tour — he won the Canada Open title and finished as a semi-finalist in the US Open.

Neither player had complete control of the match in the opening game with the Indian needing to adapt to the drift. Christie, on the other hand, after initial hiccup caught up pace to win the opening game 15-21. Lakshya found back his mojo after changing ends and started to attack from the start with good instincts.

As mentioned earlier, the far end of the court was tough to play at with Sen in the first and Christie in the second finding it difficult to score points. The second game went in Sen's favour, who made a good comeback to claim the game 21-13. The WR-11 from India had a slight advantage before the start of deciding game, as he would be the one to play at the near end after the mid-game break.

As expected, the match was poised for a good finish with both players exchanging points alternatively. From 6-6, Christie turned the game in his favour with three straight points and went into the break with a four-points lead (11-7). The 2018 Asian Games champion used all his experience to deny Lakshya the lead and always kept the game under control after the break and in the end emerged victorious to reach the Japan Open 2023 final.

Jonatan Christie will meet either of Kodai Naraoka or WR-1 Viktor Axelsen in the final tomorrow.