Lakshya Sen Beats China's Li Shi Feng In Straight Games To Reach All England Semifinals
· Free Press Journal
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.
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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.
Lakshya dominated the opening game and built a comfortable lead before Li attempted a comeback midway through.
Will PM Modi Attend IND VS NZ T20 WC 2026 Final At Narendra Modi Stadium In Ahmedabad?LAKSHYA SEN INTO THE SEMIS
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Lakshya Defeats 6th Seeded Chinese Player Li Shi Feng In Straight Games 21-13 , 21-16
Lakshya Will Play His 3rd SemiFinal At All England Tomorrow ❤️
SF Against Koki Watanabe / Victor Lai
: BWF YT#AllEnglandOpen2026 https://t.co/xCuByAUu1f pic.twitter.com/2JEagYyueT
The Indian, however, stepped up his attack to close out the game convincingly.
The second game saw a closer contest with both the players trading points in the early exchanges.
Lakshya held a slender lead at the mid-game interval and then pulled away in the closing stages to seal the match.
The victory also improved Lakshya's head-to-head record against Li Shi Feng to eight wins in 15 matches.
Lakshya, the top-ranked Indian badminton player who also made the semifinals here in 2024, is now the only Indian left in the fray this year.
He had earlier stunned world No. 1 and defending champion Shi Yuqi in the opening round.
He will face Canada’s world No. 16 Victor Lai in the semifinals.
IND VS NZ T20 WC26 Final: After Western Railway, Air India Express, Akasa Air Announce Special Flights To AhmedabadThe other Indian players were knocked out earlier in the week. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost in the first round, while Malvika Bansod and Unnati Hooda also bowed out in the opening round of women’s singles.
Two-time Olympian PV Sindhu had withdrawn from the tournament after failing to reach Birmingham in time due to travel disruptions in the Middle East, while the mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila retired from their match on Thursday.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)