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Lakshya Sen reached the final of All England Open Badminton. He is going to fight for the title again in this one of the most prestigious competitions in the world.
Lakshya Sen reached the final of All England Open Badminton. He is going to fight for the title again in this one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. The Indian shuttler confirmed the ticket to the final after defeating Canada’s Victor Lai by 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 points in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The victory for the world number 12 target, however, was not easy. He had to fight on the court for about 1 hour and 37 minutes to win the match. He had to work hard to beat Lai, who won bronze at the World Championships in Paris last year.
With this, Lakshya reached the All England final for the second time. He had previously reached the final in 2022, though Sebar had to settle for runner-up. This time, his opponent in the final is Lin Chun-yi from Chinese Taipei.
So far only two Indians have won the title of this traditional competition — Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001). Besides, Prakash Nath (1947) and Saina Nehwal (2015) became runners-up.
Lakshad’s journey in this tournament has been spectacular from the start. He lost to world number one shuttler Shi Yuqi in the first round. Defeated the world number six player Li Shifeng again in the quarter finals. Even in the semi-finals, his mental fortitude, strong defense and perfect shot-making skills were evident.
“Lakshya Sen reaches men’s singles final of All England Open with 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 win over Canada’s Victor Lai”
That headline doesn’t even begin to describe his endurance of pain to get this win.
The Juggernaut rolls on.
💪🏽🇮🇳 https://t.co/uVUKPe7cxL pic.twitter.com/UrdRo7nhJc
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 7, 2026
The match against Lai was very competitive. The match featured several long rallies, including one of 86 shots. There was a long rally of 52 shots at the start of the first game, which showed that both players were not willing to give each other up easily. In the beginning, there was not much difference in points. But in the end, Lasha won a series of points to lead 18–16 and take the first game.
In the second game, the target was under a bit of pressure. At one point he was behind by 3-4 points and had to be treated for blisters on his feet. Lai quickly jumped out to a 9–4 lead after the start of the game. However, Lakshad gradually came back into the match with a perfect shot from the backline to make the score 16–16. However, he could not win the second game in the end.
In the decisive third game, Lakshya played in an aggressive mood from the start and took a 4–2 lead. Lai also continued to fight. That was the longest rally of the match of 86 shots, which was won by Lakshad. As the match progressed, Lai grew somewhat tired. Taking advantage of that opportunity, Lakshya Sen eventually won the match and made it to the finals.
Kolkata [Calcutta]Kolkata, West Bengal
Mar 07, 2026 10:45 PM IST
Lakshya Sen in the final of All England Open Badminton! Bengali shuttler to make history!
