Lakshya stuns Li Shifeng to enter All England semifinals
India’s Lakshya Sen produced an authoritative display to storm into the semifinals of the $1,450,000 All England Open after defeating former champion Li Shifeng of China in straight games here.
The world Number 12 Indian, runner-up at the 2022 edition, prevailed 21-13 21-16 over the world Number 6 Chinese in exactly an hour to set up a last four clash against Canada’s Victor Lai, who beat Japan’s Koki Watanabe 18-21 21-17 21-15 in another quarterfinal match.
It is Lakshya’s third semifinal at the prestigious championships. “Happy with the way I played both the sets and also credit to him (Shifeng), he played a really solid game. There were some long rallies, both of us were getting tired, but yeah, happy with the way I stuck in there even after the long rallies,” Lakshya said. “My coach was also saying just be extra prepared after long rallies because even he is tired, so just don’t give any easy mistakes.
“I’m happy with the way I’m moving on court, and now it’s time to again recover as well so that I can move well tomorrow (Saturday).”
Lakshya made a confident start, racing to a 4-1 lead and then extending it to 10-4 with aggressive, positive play as Shifeng appeared slightly tentative in his movement. The Indian held a comfortable 11-6 advantage at the mid-game interval.
Although Lakshya briefly struggled to read Shifeng’s powerful overhead crosscourt smashes, he still maintained control, moving ahead 15-11.
Shifeng fought back with a probing rally to narrow the gap to 13-15, but Lakshya regained momentum and stretched the lead to 18-13 with the help of a fortunate net cord.
The Indian was firmly in command through the opening game and sealed it in 24 intense minutes.
The Chinese looked sharper after the change of ends and matched Lakshya point for point early in the second game as the two moved to 6-6.
A body smash followed by a clever net disguise gave Lakshya a two-point cushion, but Shifeng responded with a superb crosscourt smash and capitalised on a backline judgement error from the Indian to level at 9-9. Lakshya, however, produced another powerful smash to take a slender one-point lead at the break. Shifeng again closed the gap to 12-13 with a body smash, but Lakshya raised his intensity, covering the court with remarkable energy as he dived and retrieved repeatedly to keep rallies alive.
An exceptional defensive backhand return helped him extend the lead to 17-13. Shifeng briefly stayed alive in the contest by winning a gruelling 45-shot rally when trailing 15-19, but Lakshya soon surged to match points.
Although the Indian produced a weak return in the final exchanges, Shifeng pushed his shot long, allowing Lakshya to raise both fists in celebration after completing a commanding victory.
