Lakshya Sen becomes fifth Indian to enter All England Open final

The pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand bowed out of the semi-finals.

Lakshya Sen defeated the defending All England Open champion Lee Zii Jia in one of the most pulsating matches of the tournament so far.

Sen, who is No. 11 in the world had to endure an hour and 15 minutes to stage the upset against World No. 7. The young gun marched ahead in the neck-to-neck competition to book his place in the All England Open final against Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen.

The shuttler from Almora played a decent first set by capitalizing on the reigning champion’s errors. He found his way in the first before closing it out at 21-13. However, it didn’t take too long for the Malaysian shuttler to fight back, as he didn’t relinquish control in the second game. Lee kept the lead in the second game and won it comfortably by 12-21.

Finally, it was all down to the third game where both players went in all-out-attack mode. Lakshya fought hard to keep the flow of points in his favour. However, it was Lee Zii Jia who took the lead after the change of ends, but it was the Indian youngster who ensured that it wasn’t decisive. Lakshya levelled the scoreline and ended up at match point. The Malaysian ace managed to save the first one, but the Indian finished the game with a great follow-up smash and booked his place in the All England Open final against World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen.

With this win, Lakshya Sen entered the record books, as he is the fifth Indian to enter the All England Open final. This is the first time in seven years that an Indian has entered the final, after Saina Nehwal in 2015. Infact, he is also the first Indian to enter the men's singles final after 21 years, since Pullela Gopichand in 2001.

Gayatri-Treesa bow out

The young Indian doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly lost in the All England Open 2022 semi-final to the Chinese pair of Zheng Yu and Zhang Shuxian in straight games 21-17, 21-16. The duo showed enormous courage and potential entering into the match. However, the Chinese were too strong a pair and ensured that the Indians didn’t find their groove.

The pair should keep their heads held high after what was a spirited performance at the All England Open 2022. They became the first Indian doubles pair to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious tournament. Infact, they are also the youngest doubles pair to reach the final four of the competition.

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