birmingham, 7 March. India’s ace shuttler Lakshya Sen’s campaign at the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championship came to a halt on Saturday when he suffered a leg muscle injury; The Canadian battled strains and blisters to reach the men’s singles final of the BWF Super 1000 tournament for the second time with a tough win over Victor Lai.

To be honest, it proved to be one of the best matches of his career for 24-year-old Lakshya, who is ranked 12th in the BWF world rankings. In the fourth match of the day played on court number one of the Utilita Arena, he won 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 after an hour and 37 minutes of battle over 21-year-old Victor, who had won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Paris last year.

Goal one step away from creating history

This will be the second final for Almora resident Lakshya who is coming here to play his second semi-final in three years and third overall. In the year 2022, he was the runner-up, losing to Denis Starr Viktor Axelsen in the final. Seen this way, he is one step away from creating history in Birmingham. Lakshya will now face world number 11 Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei in the final on Sunday.

India has been waiting for a singles title in Birmingham for 25 years

In fact, Lakshya is now just one win away from ending India’s 25-year wait for this big title. Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) are the only players for India who have won the All England Open title. Apart from him, only Prakash Nath (1947) and Saina Nehwal (2015) came close to this by becoming runners-up.

the match has just begun 52 shot from rally

If seen, Lakshya showed tremendous mental strength, strong defense and accurate strokeplay. He took 86 shots in tough rallies. The match itself started with a rally of 52 shots. Both the shuttlers were tied at 3-3 and 4-4, penetrating each other’s defence.

World No. 16 Lai’s high ‘toss’ shot hit the target several times, but the Indian player relied on his better strokeplay to keep the score level at 8-8. Lakshya then went ahead 10-8, but Lai leveled the score again with a straight smash and a fine net shot.

Lakshya took a slight lead of one point at the break with a forehand drive. He then went ahead 18-16 with several accurate smashes and net play. With Lai hitting a long shot and missing one shot, Lakshya soon secured four game points and a series of aggressive strokes to win the first game.

Lakshya had to undergo treatment for foot ulcers in the second game

The second game also started on a par, but Lakshya was trailing 3-4 when he had to leave the court for a while to treat his foot ulcers. When play resumed, Lai took a 9-4 lead on the back of excellent defense, which included a spectacular 59-shot rally. Lakshya made a gradual comeback through drop shots, accurate backline pushes and sharp net play. But Lai maintained a four-point lead at the break.

The Indian player leveled the score at 16-16 with an accurate backline return. But the Canadian player maintained his composure and again took the lead 18-16. They then earned two game points and leveled the score at 1-1 by winning the second game when the target returned wide.

in the final game 86 A tiring rally of shots was seen

Target initially led 4–2 in the deciding game. Lai took a medical timeout after injuring his finger during a dive. The Canadian player then leveled the score at 4-4. But the momentum was set at the end of an exhausting 86-shot rally, with the chair umpire awarding the target after ruling that the shuttle had hit the lie.

Due to muscle treatment, he returned late to the court and had to see a yellow card.

Lakshya gradually took the lead as fatigue started appearing on Lai’s face. The Indian player went ahead 9-6. A powerful smash and a sharp net shot gave him an 11-7 lead at the break. Lakshya received treatment for his thigh muscles during the break and was later shown a yellow card for returning to the court late.

Despite a hamstring injury, Lakshya took the lead to 15-9 when Lai’s return shot went wide. As the match crossed one hour and 30 minutes, the mistakes started increasing and Lai reduced the lead to 14-16.

Secured a memorable victory with a powerful smash.

But the Indian player again showed enthusiasm and hit a smash to make the score 17-14. Then when Lai hit a wide shot the lead became 18-15. After a brilliant smash, Lakshya was just two points away from victory and Lai’s net mistake gave the Indian five match points. He sealed the memorable victory with another powerful smash.

‘Now I’m really looking forward to the final‘

Lakshya, who had stunned two Chinese stars in the form of world number one and defending champion Shi Yuqi in the first round and sixth seed Li Shi Feng in the quarter-finals, said after defeating Victor, ‘I was scoring only one point at a time and as soon as I started the third set, I was feeling a little strain in the muscles of my legs. I didn’t know whether I would be able to play the entire match or not. I was just trying to fight for every point. And didn’t think much about the future.

Lakshya said, ‘I think the plan was to use smashes in the first few shots to end the rally and not let the rally go on too long because he was playing very balanced. At the end we were both very tired, but I think it was necessary in the end that I increased the pace a bit. Regarding the final, Lakshya said, ‘Now I am really looking forward to tomorrow. One day I will rest and come back even stronger.