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Highlights from the All England Open Badminton semi-finals: Lakshya Sen was kicked out of the prestigious All England Badminton Championship after he was beaten 12-21, 21-10, 15-21 by Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in a closely contested semi-final. The Indian had done well to take the game to a decider in the third game, responding to a 12-21 loss in the first game with a 21-10 victory in the second.
Lakshya was imperious in the second game, leading 17-4 in the second game at one point before closing out the decider without breaking a sweat. He was returning the favor as it was the Indonesian who went from leading 11-7 at the mid-game interval to winning 21-12 in the first game.
Indonesian Jonatan Christie thus faces his compatriot Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
Lakshya had reached the semi-finals after defeating Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in three matches in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Lakshya reached the final once in the past at the prestigious English Championship.
Lakshya Sen’s path to the All England semi-finals
After losing the first game 20-22 in the quarterfinals, Lakshya won the second game 21-16 and claimed the third game 21-19 to conclude the 71-minute match. The Malaysian had won the first match 22-20 after 23 minutes of fast-paced badminton. The Indian had maintained the lead in the mid-play intervals of both games against Malaysia’s Lee.
Lakshya was trailing 2-8 against world number 4 Anders Antonsen in the decisive third game in Birmingham on Thursday, before overcoming fourth seed Denmark 20-22, 21-13, 21-11 in a 78-all thriller. minutes. Lakshya, 21, won men’s singles gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, but has since been searching for form after nasal surgery halted his progress in late 2022.
The other Indians in Thursday’s fray lost, leaving Lakshya as the only Indian in action on Friday. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, fresh from winning the French Open title last week, fell as did PV Sindhu, who was defeated by An Se Young of South Korea.
Scroll down to see all the live updates from the All England Open Badminton Championships 2023, brought to you by Amit Kamath, Vinayakk Mohanarangan and our badminton expert, Shivani Naik. You can also read our preview, our article on talking points for the Indian contingent, and an article on everything you need to know before the action begins.
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