Lakshya Sen is keeping India's flag high in the ongoing Hong Kong Open in men's singles. He is the only Indian shuttler left in the last four and, unfortunately, had to knock out two Indian players - HS Prannoy and Ayush Shetty - on his way to the semis. He got the better of India's emerging star in the quarterfinals on Friday (September 12) to continue his winning run.
Both Indian shuttlers set the court on fire as their top game came to the fore in the quarterfinal clash. Eventually, it was the more experienced Sen who came up trumps to win the three-set thriller 21-16, 17-21, 21-13. After losing the opening set, Shetty staged a stunning comeback despite being down 15-16 at one stage. But he earned six points in quick time to pocket the second set 17-21 and stay alive in the clash.
However, Lakshya Sen made sure he didn't give a chance to make a comeback to his Indian opponent in the decider to win the set easily by 13-21 and storm into the semis. He will next face the winner of the match between third-seeded Chou Tein Chen and Alwi Farhan, who will face each other later in the day.
Satwik-Chirag also made it to semis earlier in the day
Meanwhile, the Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also qualified for the semifinals earlier in the day. They got the better of the Malaysian duo of Yap Roy King and Junaidi Arif in three sets, 21-14, 20-22, 21-16. The duo has been in terrific form in the competition, but the challenge only grows manifold for them in the semifinal as they face Chen Cheng Kuan and LIN Bing-Wei of Chinese Taipei.
The Indian fans will be hoping that Lakshya Sen and the duo of Satwik-Chirag make it to the final of the Hong Kong Open and eventually win the title as well.
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