Australian Open, Badminton: Lakshya Sen beats Chou Tien Chen to storm into final

New Delhi: Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen qualified for the Australian Open men’s singles final after a gritty three-game victory against Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen in Sydney on November 22.

Lakshya showed great mental toughness to make a comeback from an opening-game setback to defeat the second seed 17-21, 24-22, 21-16 in an 86-minute semifinal. The 24-year-old is yet to win a title this season, and will take on either Japan’s Yushi Tanaka or Chinese Taipei’s fifth seed Lin Chun-Yi in Sunday’s final clash.

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The Indian shuttler struggled early on while Chen looked precise with his shot selection and execution, which allowed him to dominate the rallies. His steady play got him an 11-6 lead at the interval.

Chen extended his lead to 14-7 with aggressive gameplay. A net error from the Indian shuttler made it 19-13 before Chen steadied himself again. The two shuttlers played a 44-shot rally that ended with Chen smashing a killing blow to earn five game points. Lakshya saved two, but then drove one into the net to lose the opening game.

Both shuttlers took some time to adjust after the change of ends. They made a couple of errors as the score moved from 2-2 to 4-4. Chen managed to take a 7-4 lead with sharp attacks. But, the Indian shuttler levelled at 9-9, and then applied pressure to take an 11-9 lead.

Chen made it back to 12-all after Lakshya played a smash wide. At 14-13, Lakshya showed great defensive grit and made brilliant saves before finishing the point with a smash.

Chen made it 17-all with a smash around Lakshya's hips and then took a lead when the Indian shuttler hit the net. Lakshya made a couple of errors to hand Chen two match points.

Chen saved multiple match points, but Lakshya kept fighting back. At 20–20, a sharp net exchange gave Chen another chance, but he hit it long again. The Indian shuttler earned a game point with a smash that clipped the line, but Chen saved it. The Indian grabbed the second opportunity to level the match.

Lakshya took an early 6-1 lead in the third game as Chen struggled for precision. The Indian shuttler's length improved, and his net game also turned sharper. Chen struggled as Lakshya took a 10-5 lead and entered the interval, extending it to 11-6.

A service error from Chen pushed Lakshya's lead to 17-9, and a stunning cross-court smash earned the Indian shuttler eight match points. Chen managed to save four but eventually netted the shuttle, as Lakshya sealed an impressive comeback victory.