Lakshya Sen advances to the finals at the Canada Open while PV Sindhu loses in the semifinals

Lakshya Sen, an Indian badminton player who won the Commonwealth Games title, defeated Japanese shuttler Kenta Nishimoro in straight sets to go to the championship match of the Canada Open Super 500 competition in Calgary.

The young man from Almora, Ontario, beat his Japanese opponent in the men’s singles tournament final four with a commanding 21-17, 21-14 victory, advancing to his first BWF summit match in more than a year.

In the first game of the semifinals, Sen began hesitantly and gave his opponent a four-point lead before using patient rallies to equalize the score at eight each.

Sen came back strongly after the break and hit his stinging smashes brilliantly to win the first game with a score of 21-17. Nishimoro had a little edge heading into the break in the first game as the Japanese star was a point up at 11-10.

The second game was evenly matched up until there were nine equal scores. However, the Indian grabbed control after that and raced to a dominating 19-11 lead before winning the game 21-14 and advancing to the final game.

Sen is also competing in his second Super 500 summit match in his young career.

Prior to needing surgery in August 2022 to correct a deviated septum in his nose, the 21-year-old was in good shape. However, the healing period caused him to lose some of that form.

On Sunday, the 2021 World Championships bronze medalist will face Li Shi Feng of China in the championship match.

After having a difficult start to the year, Sen, the former world number 6 who is now ranked 19th, aims to turn things around as he prepares to face the Chinese shuttler in the summit match.

Sen hopes to draw motivation from the gold in the multi-sport competition in Birmingham, which he won in his previous final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

In a rematch of their match from the Thailand Open, in which Sen defeated the 23-year-old Chinese player, Li Shi Feng, Sen will be hoping to further widen the distance between himself and the Chinese badminton star. Sen now leads Li Shi Feng 4-2 in their head-to-head meetings.

Sindhu Expelled

However, the top female shuttler in India, PV Sindhu, suffered a humiliating defeat to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the singles event’s semifinal round.

The two-time Olympian from Hyderabad lost 14–21, 15–21 in a lackluster effort, continuing a losing trend that had started at the beginning of the year.