Lakshya Sen beats Chou Tien Chen to enter Australian Open final

Lakshya Sen reached the Australian Open Super 500 final in Sydney after defeating second seed Chou Tien Chen 17-21, 24-22, 21-16. Sen staged a strong comeback and is the lone Indian left in the tournament after other exits

Sydney: India’s ace shuttler Lakshya Sen overpowered Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in a thrilling semifinal to reach the summit clash of the Australian Open Super 500 at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday.

In a remarkable fightback, Sen came from a game down to defeat second seed Chen 17-21, 24-22, 21-16 in a one-hour and 26-minute encounter.

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Sen, who is still chasing his first title of the season, started the match under pressure as Chen took an early 4-0 lead and entered the break with an 11-6 advantage. The Indian tried to reduce the deficit but Chen clinched the opening game 21-17.

The second game saw a fierce battle between the two players. The lead changed hands before Sen showed his composure in the tense situation, taking two consecutive points at 22-22 to seal the game.

In the decider, Sen quickly seized control, heading into the mid-game break with an 11-6 advantage. He stretched the lead to 14-7, and a service fault from Chen widened the gap to 17-9. A sharp cross-court smash then handed Sen eight match points. Though Chen saved four of them, he eventually sent a shot into the net, allowing Sen to complete a strong comeback win.

Sen is the lone Indian left in the tournament after he powered past Ayush Shetty in straight games to reach the semifinal on Friday.

In men’s doubles, top seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who cruised into the quarterfinals with a comfortable win over Su Ching Heng and Wu Guan Xun of Chinese Taipei, lost to fifth seeds Indonesians Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri 19-21, 15-21 to bow out of the tournament.

Earlier, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth made early exits in men’s singles on Thursday.