BIRMINGHAM, March 20 — India’s Lakshya Sen will face Danish top seed Viktor Axelsen in the men’s All England Open final after beating Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia on Saturday.
Sen battled to a thrilling 21-13, 12-21, 21-19 victory against defending champion Lee.
The 20-year-old rising star, a World Championships bronze medallist, is just the fourth Indian man to make the All England final.
“I’m happy that I got the crucial points. It’s a dream and now there’s one more match to go, so I will keep my focus and prepare for tomorrow,” Sen said.
“Towards the end I was just trying to play one point at a time and not thinking of other things, that I was about to make the final or anything like that.
“Those thoughts were coming in, but I was trying to stay focused.”
In the other semi-final, Axelsen powered to a 21-13, 21-15 win over Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen.
World number one Tai Tzu-ying was shocked by South Korea’s An Se-young 21-19, 21-13 in the women’s semi-finals.
Tai, a three-time All England winner, was soundly beaten in just 40 minutes by the world number four.
An will face Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in Sunday’s final after she edged Chinese third seed Chen Yu Fei 21-11, 21-13.
There will be an all-Indonesian men’s doubles final as two-time champions and number one seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo were beaten by compatriots Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana 22-20, 13-21, 21-16.
“We thought it was over in the second game the way they were playing, but we managed to overcome that phase,” said Maulana.
“We are shocked that we are in the final and so happy.”
Number two seeds Mohamed Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan also needed three sets to book their place in the final with a 21-16, 14-21, 21-13 win over Chinese duo He Ji Ting and Tan Qiang.
In the women’s doubles semi-finals, Japanese duo Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida beat Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jeong 21-8, 21-12.
They will face Chinese pair Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu, who defeated Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela 21-17, 21-16. — AFP
