Badminton
Bloody and bruised Lakshya Sen slays World No. 3 Antonsen to book All England quarters: Watch
Lakshya Sen, troubled by bruises, put up a clinical performance against World No. 3 Anders Antonsen to secure a quarter-final spot at the All England Open 2022.
Lakshya Sen's bruises, this time on the finger, acted up in the middle of the All England Open match against Anders Antonsen [Source: BWF TV]
Other than spilling literal blood on the court, World No. 11 Indian badminton sensation Lakshya Sen ensured that he played a bloody good match against World No. 3 Anders Antonsen at the All England Open 2022.
In another deja-vu moment right after Lakshya Sen won the opening game, 21-16, he went off-court to get some treatment on his hand, heavily taped again. A finger bruise had acted up this time, leading to some blood spilling on the court, staining Lakshya's white shirt as well his racquet grip.
Although the two World Championship bronze medallist players remained unruffled by it, especially Sen, an exceptionally long time was spent restarting the match as tournament staff got busy cleaning up after announcing ominously - "Blood on the court" while Sen and Antonsen kept warming up on one side.
READ | Derailed by injury, Lakshya Sen settles for silver at German Open 2022: Watch
However, if a stubborn blister had been the villain for Lakshya Sen in the German Open final against Kunlavut Vitidsarn last week, today Sen made no mistake. Producing some classy shots, angled winners and amping up on the cross-court shots, Sen kept the Dane busy throughout and no blister could hold him back today.
Into the second game, Sen only lost focus momentarily after the second mid-game break where Antonsen, who ousted World Champion Loh Kean Yew in the opening round of the All England Open, collected six points on the trot before Sen put him back on the leash.
Displaying surprise maturity and remarkable growth, Lakshya Sen, has been on a giant-killing spree of late. At the German Open, he recorded his first Top 5 win against Indonesia's Anthony Ginting in straight sets before pulling off a stunning comeback in a thriller contest against World No. 1 and Olympic champ Viktor Axelsen in the semi-finals.
Into his debut All England Open quarters now, Sen was invincible for the most part of the match against Antonsen who couldn't attack much and defended more in the 55-minutes clash, eventually leading to the massive upset in their first meeting itself, 21-16, 21-18.
The 20-year-old Lakshya Sen will now either face Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus or China's Lu Guang Zu in the quarter-finals.
