Birmingham (England): Another impressive week ended with a creditable semifinal finish for star shuttler Lakshya Sen after he stumbled to a three-game loss against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie at the All England Championships here on Saturday, prolonging India's long wait for the coveted trophy. In a game of fine margins, the 22-year-old, who had finished runner-up in the 2022 edition, was marginally short as he slipped to a 21-12, 10-21, 15-21 defeat to world no. 9 Christie, the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist.
Sen, who reached the semifinals of the French Open Super 750 the previous week, has been on the court for 491 minutes playing some nerve-wracking badminton in the last 11 days and, perhaps, those gruelling three-setters might have taken their toll on him as he ran out of steam in the semis. Christie will now face fellow Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in Sunday's final.
Though he failed to go the distance, the last two weeks have been memorable for Sen, who was looking down and out after a series of first-round exits, including losses at Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750 this season. The back-to-back semifinal finishes are likely to lock his Paris Olympic berth when the BWF rankings are published by April end.