Fighting cramps, Lakshya Sen makes history reaching All England final

Dubai: Lakshya Sen became only the second Indian player to reach the men’s singles final of the All-England Open Badminton Championship twice, after defeating Canada’s Victor Lai in a hard-fought semi-final in Birmingham on Saturday.

The 24-year-old, who had also made it to the final in 2022, battled not only a determined Lai but also blisters on his right toe, clinching the win 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 in an intense match that lasted 1 hour and 37 minutes.

Sen’s mentor, Prakash Padukone, was the first Indian to reach the All-England final, achieving the feat in both 1980 and 1981, and famously won the title in his debut appearance in the summit clash.

“I could feel some cramping in my legs at the start of the third set, and I wasn’t sure if I could push through,” Lakshya told BWF. “I was just focused on taking it one point at a time … telling myself, ‘just one more point,’ and not worrying about the future.” When asked if his aggressive strategy, with smashes and high leaps despite the cramp, could have backfired, he laughed. “That was the plan — finish the rally quickly, not let it go long, because he was playing very steadily. We were both tired, but in the end, I had to step up the pace a bit.”

“I was prepared for everything he’d return. Towards the end, I managed to land a few good shots where I wasn’t thinking about the next one, just attacking 100%,” he added.

The semi-final was a test of both players’ physical endurance, with multiple rallies extending over 50 strokes. Sen’s ability to shift gears helped him win the opening game, which remained neck-and-neck until 17-16, when he took four consecutive points to edge ahead. However, Lai, the first Canadian player to medal at the BWF World Championships, responded strongly in the second game, taking an 11-7 lead at the mid-game interval.

By this point, Sen, dealing with painful blisters, rallied to tie the score at 16-16, but Lai surged again, forcing the match into a decider. Sen, using his experience, took calculated risks to build a 15-9 lead. Lai, known for his resilience, reduced the gap to 17-15, but Sen closed out the match with another four straight points, securing his spot in the final.

In the final, Sen will face Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei, the India Open champion, who defeated second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-14, 18-21, 21-16 in 1 hour and 18 minutes.

Sen will now look to become the third Indian to win the prestigious men’s singles title, joining Padukone and Pullela Gopichand (2001) in the All-England history books.

PV Sindhu wrote on social media that the match reminded her of the epic clash against Nozomi Okuhara at the 2017 Worlds. “To win when your legs are cramping is one of the most difficult things in sport, and to see him do that today was phenomenal. He has a phenomenal team around him so I’m sure he’ll be okay. Good luck for tomorrow, Lakshya. Godspeed.”

With inputs from IANS