Up 16-12 in the decider, defending champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia was marching into the All England Open final—at Lakshya Sen’s expense. The unseeded Indian had only one option left: all-out attack.
Sen clenched his fist, muttered a ‘come on’ against the sixth seed. The 20-year-old found a spring in his step and, capitalising on world No. 7 Lee’s passiveness, went on the offensive. Even before Lee could react, the world No. 11 had two match points at 20-18.
Lee saved one but Sen won 21-13, 12-21, 21-19 in an hour and 16 minutes, becoming the fifth Indian to reach the final of the world’s oldest badminton tournament after Prakash Nath, Prakash Padukone, Pullela Gopichand and Saina Nehwal.
“Brilliant game! When required, Lakshya upped the pace at the right time. Lee never thought Lakshya would have the pace and stamina at that stage. Lakshya pushed the pace, took Lee by surprise, counter dribbled and controlled the net very well and never allowed him to take control at the close,” said U Vimal Kumar, Sen’s long-time mentor and coach.
Sen has had a sensational run since claiming the bronze at the world championships in Huelva last December. This was his third final in four events this year, after India Open (which he won) in January and German Open last week. He has won 15 matches out of 17 in 2022, beating Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, world champion Loh Kean Yew, world No. 3 Anders Antonsen before Saturday.
A third generation shuttler, Sen will be aiming to become the third Indian, after Padukone and Gopichand, to win the $1 million event when he faces the winner of the semi-final between Danish top seed Axelsen and fourth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
“I am happy that I won. I will rest now, recover and go all out tomorrow,” said Sen after beating Lee for the second time. “I was definitely nervous but I was just trying to play one point at a time and not the occasion. Towards the end, I was trying to not think about the things that were going around (like) it was the All England semi-final. The thoughts were coming in but I was trying to keep myself focussed.”
Up against a more experienced and stronger opponent (Lee’s smashes at times hit 400kph), Sen brought his speed, tactical acumen and net game into play in addition to brilliant defence which he turned into offence.
Sen mixed shots—cross-court smashes, half-smashes, drops, clever touches and deft placement. He was patient when Lee was aggressive, playing crafty, wristy drops that drew him to the net and induced errors.
“Going into the third game, I tried to play safe at the net rather than going too close and at the same time getting a good length. In the final few points, strategy was completely different because he is one of the best attacking players in the world and when there is lot of pressure you have to go all out and keep the attack. I knew in my head I can’t play loose,” said Sen.
On Friday, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand made history by becoming the first Indian pair to qualify for the semi-finals when they stunned South Korean world No. 2 Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan 14-21, 22-20, 21-15.