Birmingham: Lakshya Sen continued his dream run and kept India’s hopes afloat at the All England Open, stunning China’s world No. 6 Li Shi Feng in straight games to storm into the semifinals here.
The world No. 12 Indian, who was a finalist here in 2022, ousted Li 21-13, 21-16 in the men’s singles quarterfinal that lasted an hour at the Utilita Arena on Friday.
The win also served as a sweet revenge for Lakshya, who had lost to the same opponent at the quarterfinal stage of the 2025 edition.
“Happy with the way I played both the sets and also credit to him (Shifeng), he played a really solid game. There were some long rallies, both of us were getting tired, but yeah, happy with the way I stuck in there even after the long rallies,” Lakshya said.
“My coach was also saying just be extra prepared after long rallies because even he is tired, so just don’t give any easy mistakes.
“I’m happy with the way I’m moving on court, and now it’s time to again recover as well so that I can move well tomorrow (Saturday).” Lakshya made a confident start, racing to a 4-1 lead and then extending it to 10-4 with aggressive, positive play as Shifeng appeared slightly tentative in his movement. The Indian held a comfortable 11-6 advantage at the mid game interval.
Although Lakshya briefly struggled to read Shifeng’s powerful overhead crosscourt smashes, he still maintained control, moving ahead 15-11.
Shifeng fought back with a probing rally to narrow the gap to 13-15, but Lakshya regained momentum and stretched the lead to 18-13 with the help of a fortunate net cord.
The Indian was firmly in command through the opening game and sealed it in 24 intense minutes.
Lakshya Sen produced an authoritative display to storm into the semifinals of the $1,450,000 All England Open after defeating former champion Li Shifeng of China in straight games in Birmingham.
The world No. 12 Indian, runner-up at the 2022 edition, prevailed 21-13 21-16 over the world No. 6 Chinese in exactly an hour to set up a last-four clash against Canada’s Victor Lai, who beat Japan’s Koki Watanabe 18-21 21-17 21-15 in another quarterfinal match.
It is Lakshya’s third semifinal at the prestigious championships.
“Happy with the way I played both the sets and also credit to him (Shifeng), he played a really solid game. There were some long rallies, both of us were getting tired, but yeah, happy with the way I stuck in there even after the long rallies,” Lakshya said.
“My coach was also saying just be extra prepared after long rallies because even he is tired, so just don’t give any easy mistakes.
“I’m happy with the way I’m moving on court, and now it’s time to again recover as well so that I can move well tomorrow (Saturday).” Lakshya made a confident start, racing to a 4-1 lead and then extending it to 10-4 with aggressive, positive play as Shifeng appeared slightly tentative in his movement. The Indian held a comfortable 11-6 advantage at the mid game interval.
Although Lakshya briefly struggled to read Shifeng’s powerful overhead crosscourt smashes, he still maintained control, moving ahead 15-11.
Shifeng fought back with a probing rally to narrow the gap to 13-15, but Lakshya regained momentum and stretched the lead to 18-13 with the help of a fortunate net cord.
The Indian was firmly in command through the opening game and sealed it in 24 intense minutes.
The Chinese looked sharper after the change of ends and matched Lakshya point for point early in the second game as the two moved to 6-6.
A body smash followed by a clever net disguise gave Lakshya a two point cushion, but Shifeng responded with a superb crosscourt smash and capitalised on a backline judgement error from the Indian to level at 9-9. Lakshya, however, produced another powerful smash to take a slender one point lead at the break.
Shifeng again closed the gap to 12-13 with a body smash, but Lakshya raised his intensity, covering the court with remarkable energy as he dived and retrieved repeatedly to keep rallies alive.
