Badminton
US Open: Lakshya Sen halted in semifinals
Lakshya, seeded third, lost 17-21, 24-22, 17-21 against second-seed Feng in a gruelling last-four match that lasted one hour and 16 minutes in the BWF Super 300 event.
Lakshya Sen (File Photo)
Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen lost to reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of China in the men's singles semi-finals of the US Open badminton tournament on Saturday night.
A Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Lakshya, seeded third, lost 17-21, 24-22, 17-21 against second-seed Feng in a gruelling last-four match that lasted one hour and 16 minutes in the BWF Super 300 event on Saturday night.
It was a close fight between world No. 7 Feng and Lakshya, ranked 12th, in the opening game till 17 points before the Chinese surged ahead with aggressive play as the Indian committed some unforced errors to take the lead.
But world championships bronze medallist Lakshya was in no mood to give up without a fight and bounced back strongly in the second game. Just like the opener, the second game too witnessed a tooth-and-nail fight between the two shuttlers as they looked in no mood to give an inch to each other.
Lakshya, who enjoyed an 5-2 win-loss record against Feng coming into the match, had defeated the Chinese 21-18, 22-20 to win the Canada Open, his second BWF Super 500 title last week.
(With PTI inputs)
