Badminton News: India's Lakshya Sen showed extraordinary mental determination en route to a resounding victory over former Malaysian champion Lee Zii Jia to advance to the men's singles semi-finals of the All England Championships at the Birmingham's Utilita Arena.

The 22-year-old Indian, runner-up in the 2022 edition, produced good variety in attack and kept fighting to beat Lee 20-22, 21-16, 21-19 in a thrilling 71-minute quarter . final Friday.

“It was a very good match and it was good to be on the winning side. It’s all about maintaining courage. “I know he has what it takes to come back and fight a tough fight,” the senator said.

“Even when I had an 18-14 lead, I knew if I played a little less, he would take that opportunity. For me, it's important to dictate the pace. Ultimately, it's about not giving him any opportunity to hit and hold the shuttle.

The world number 18, reigning Commonwealth Games champion, will next face Indonesian world number 9 Jonatan Christie in the semi-final.

Facing Jonatan Christie, Lakshya Sen trails 1-2 in the head-to-head record where the last meeting between the two players took place in the semi-final of the Japan Open 2023 with a draw of 15-21, 21 -13 and 16-21. for the Red and White to win.

Sen played four three-match matches last week at the French Open before being involved in two consecutive long matches in recent days, but despite this he managed to maintain a high pace.

“It was (physically) very good. The way I played last week and now too. Now the most important thing is recovery because we don't have much time. “My support team must be completely ready to help me face the next match,” the senator said.

Article Tag: Lakshya Sen, Jonathan Christie, All England 2024