In the All England Open Badminton Championships on Sunday, India’s Lakshya Sen faced the world no. 1 Victor Axelsen of Denmark in the Men’s Singles final event. In the Women’s Single final, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan defeated the South Korean, An Se-young to claim the title.
Among the twenty-six Indian badminton players who participated in the All England Open Badminton Championships, only Lakshya Sen secured a spot in the finals closely followed by the duo Gayatri Gopichand Pullela and Treesa Jolly who lost in the Women’s Doubles semi-final.
Men’s Singles final
Lakshya Sen secured his spot in the final of Men’s Singles by winning against LEE Zii Jia of Malaysia, the 2021 All England Open champion in a thrilling three-set match. On Sunday, the 20-year old Indian faced the world number 1, Victor Axelsen of Denmark in the final event. He failed to hold his ground against Axelsen.
The Indian finished as the runner-up claiming the silver medal in a two set match (10-21, 15-21) to the Danish. Previously, in the German Open 300 earlier this month, Lakshya Sen had beaten Victor Axelsen in an exciting three-set match in the semi-final. Sen finished as the runner-up in the German Open also.
Sen’s journey to the Men’s Singles final
Round 1: Sourabh Verma (21-17, 21-7)
Round 2: Anders Antonsen (21-16, 21-18)
Quarter-final: Lu Guang Zu (walkover)
Semi-final: LEE Zii Jia (21-13, 12-21, 21-19)
Final: Victor Axelsen(10-21, 15-21)
Women’s Singles final
On Sunday in the All England Open Badminton Championships, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan faced An Se-young of South Korea in the final of the Women’s Singles. The Japanese easily took the upper hand against An Se-young in the final.
Yamaguchi, ranked number 2 defeated the South Korean, ranked number 4 in a two set match (21-15, 21-15) claiming the gold. In the semi-final, Yamaguchi defeated the Tokyo Olympics gold-medallist Chen Yu Fei, ranked number 3, of China in a two-set match (21-11, 21-13). India’s Saina Nehwal lost to the Japanese in the second round of the championship.
Previous year’s champion in the Women’s Singles event, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan lost to Tai Tzu Ying in the quarter finals. The two-time Olympic medallist of India and previously the World Champion in badminton, P.V Sindhu lost to Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in the second round of championship this year in a three-set match.
Yamaguchi’s road to victory in the Women’s Singles event
Round 1: Kristin Kuuba (21-13, 21-13)
Round 2: Saina Nehwal (21-14, 17-21, 21-17)
Quarter-final: Sayaka Takahashi (21-18  21-7)
Semi-final: Chen Yu Fei (21-11, 21-13)
Final: An Se-young (21-15, 21-15)
Published By : Revathy G Sanal
Edited By : Subbuthai Padma
