King Cup: Lakshya Sen beats France's Alex Lanier to finish third

India's Lakshya Sen, on Sunday, earned a third-place finish at the King Cup Open with a 21-17, 21-11 straight-game win over France's Alex Lanier in Shenzhen, China.

Sen, who had on Saturday suffered a shock loss to the world junior champion Hu Zhe'an, did well to recover from that defeat and take the battle to Lanier.

The Indian, ranked 12th in the BWF world rankings, started well against Lanier, opening up a 7-3 lead in the first game. The Frenchman, however, found his way back as Sen floated his shuttles wide and often long to equalise at 9-9.

In fact it was Lanier, who enjoyed a slender 11-10 lead at the first mid-game interval. That remained the only phase, where Sen looked out of sorts in what was a near-perfect match for the Indian.

With some advice from his father and coach DK Sen, who was present at the sidelines, Sen rectified his errors soon after the mid-game interval. Though Lanier kept him in check with some beautifully placed shots, the 23-year-old Sen raced away to take the opening game 21-17.

Once the first game was pocketed, Sen elevated his play. He was much more confident with his shots and placed them well, making Lanier work hard across the court and opening up a five-point lead at 11-6.

Sen continued his merry ways and soon wrapped up the game and match, with Lanier winning only five of the last 15 points in the contest.

The King Cup is a tournament hosted by two-time Olympic Champion Lin Dan with eight men's singles shuttlers in fray. The tournament is not a part of the BWF circuit and so there were no ranking points on offer for the players.