NEW DELHI: India’s Lakshya Sen exited the All England Badminton Championships following a straight-game defeat to Chinese language world No. 6 Li Shi Feng within the males’s singles quarterfinals on Friday. The 2022 finalist, who narrowly missed an Olympic medal in Paris final 12 months, was outplayed 10-21, 16-21 in a 45-minute encounter.
Ranked world No. 15, Sen had received his final two encounters in opposition to Li, together with on the Thomas Cup. Nonetheless, this time, he struggled in opposition to his acquainted Chinese language rival from the junior class of 2018.
Feng dominated early, wrapping up the primary recreation in simply 17 minutes. Taking part in with composure and avoiding pointless dangers, he surged to a 9-Four lead with a strong smash and entered the break with an 11-Four benefit. Sen’s unsuccessful evaluate left him trailing 4-12, however a short resurgence noticed him scale back the deficit to 7-12 with a pointy cross-court smash. But, Feng shortly adjusted, mixing up his tempo and techniques to clinch the sport.
Sen confirmed enchancment within the second recreation however could not match Feng’s consistency. Trailing 2-5 initially, Sen fought again with higher web play, taking a 10-Eight lead after a grueling 37-shot rally. He maintained a slender three-point lead on the break and fought laborious in a good contest, with a marathon 44-shot change tying the rating at 14-all. Nonetheless, Feng’s aggression proved decisive as he surged forward 17-15 with a strong smash.
At 15-18, Sen suffered finger bruises, spilling blood on the court docket and requiring medical consideration, resulting in a short stoppage. Nonetheless, the break did little to disrupt Feng’s momentum as he sealed the match with one other thunderous smash.
Regardless of the loss, Sen’s marketing campaign was commendable, highlighted by his beautiful straight-game victory over defending champion Jonatan Christie, avenging his semifinal defeat to the Indonesian final 12 months.
With this win, Feng advances to the semifinals to face the winner between prime seed Shi Yu Qi and Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew.
In the meantime, India’s doubles duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrew because of harm, Malvika Bansod bowed out in girls’s singles, and the combined doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde additionally fell quick.
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