New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen stormed into the All England Open Badminton Championships men’s singles final after a hard-fought win against Victor Lai of Canada in the semifinals on Saturday. Lakshya kept his cool all through the match as the 12th ranked Indian shuttler beat world number 16 Lai 21-16, 18-21, 21-15.
The exciting match lasted for one hour and 37 minutes, with the result being decider in the final game. The Indian shutter convincingly won the first game with the Canadian coming back hard in the second one to force the match into the decider. The third and last game was crucial for both the players but at the end, the India badminton player prevailed.
CRAZY CRAZY SCENES AT THE BIRMINGHAM
Lakshya Sen just pulled off the match despite battling Injury and limping in the decider
Lakshya defeated 🌎 🥉 Victor Lai 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 to reach his 2nd consecutive Finals 💥🤯
Become only the 2nd Indian to reach 2 finals at All… pic.twitter.com/rylEXv6Rdn
— SPORTS ARENA🇮🇳 (@SportsArena1234) March 7, 2026
Lakshya Sen overpowers Victor Lai
Meanwhile, Lai had won a bronze medal in the world championships in Paris last year but seemed to be not a perfect match in front of the star Indian player, who kept him in total check. For Sen, this will be the second final appearance in the prestigious tournament having finished as runner-up in 2022.
Sen, who continued his dream run in the BWF Super 1000 tournament, will be up against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi in the grand final on Sunday, March 8. Chun-Yi beat world number two Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the other semifinal on Saturday.
Earlier in the tournament, Sen had defeated China’s world No. 6 Li Shi Feng in straight games in the quarterfinals on Friday and stunned world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China in the first round.