Thailand Open 2023 badminton: Lakshya Sen storms into semi ...

Lakshya Sen defeated Jun Hao Leong of Malaysia in straight games. Kiran George, meanwhile, crashed out after losing to Toma Junior Popov of France. 

Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen made it to his first semi-finals of the BWF 2023 season after defeating Jun Hao Leong of Malaysia 21-19, 21-11 in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open 2023 men’s singles event in Bangkok on Friday.

Lakshya Sen, a Commonwealth Games 2022 champion, has endured a tough season so far. The 21-year-old was in the top 10 of the badminton rankings at the start of the year but is 23rd on the latest charts after a string of early exits.

Competing at the Indoor Stadium Huamark, Lakshya Sen was in a spot of bother in the first game, trailing his world No. 65 opponent by six points at 10-16. However, the Indian badminton player pulled things back with his attacking intent and clinched the first game.

With momentum on his side, Lakshya Sen went into the second break with a three-point lead and capitalised on it for his second win over Jun Hao Leong at the senior level in as many matches.

Lakshya Sen will now take on the winner of the match between world No. 13 Guang Zu Lu of the Republic of China and world No. 5 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the semi-finals of the BWF Super 500 tournament on Saturday.

Earlier in the round of 16, Lakshya Sen, a world championships bronze medallist, defeated the fourth seed and reigning All England Open champion from China, Li Shi Feng, in straight games. Sen accounted for former world No. 9 Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in the first round.

Kiran George, the only other Indian badminton player to make it to the quarter-final stage of the Thailand Open, went down to Frenchman Toma Junior Popov 16-21, 17-21 in 41 minutes.

Kiran George, 59th in the badminton rankings for men’s singles, could not catch up to world No. 28 Toma Junior Popov after conceding an early lead.

The Indian shuttler went into the second interval with a three-point lead. However, after the game was tied at 17-all, Toma Junior Popov upped the ante to bag four consecutive points and progress to the semi-finals.

In the earlier rounds, Kiran George got the better of former All England Open champion Shi Yu Qi and an in-form Weng Hong Yang, who was the finalist at last week’s Malaysia Masters Super 500 event.

Saina Nehwal crashed out from the round of 16 while PV Sindhu suffered a first-round exit. The Thailand Open will conclude on Sunday.