All England Open: Lakshya Sen Defeats Lee Shi Feng to Reach Semifinals
Birmingham: India’s top-ranked men’s singles shuttler Lakshya Sen continued his impressive run at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2026, advancing to the semifinals after defeating sixth seed and former champion Li Shifeng in straight games on Friday night.
Sen, who was the runner-up in the 2022 edition, secured a 21–13, 21–16 victory over the Chinese star in just about one hour. In the semifinals, the 24-year-old will face Victor Lai of Canada, who defeated Koki Watanabe of Japan 18–21, 21–17, 21–15 in another quarterfinal.
Sen was the last remaining Indian player in the tournament and began his campaign with a major upset, defeating top seed and defending champion Shi Yuqi in the opening round. He then overcame Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong in the second round.
Before the quarterfinal clash, Sen and Li were evenly matched with a 7–7 head-to-head record.
The world No. 12 adopted an aggressive approach from the start, racing to a 10–4 lead in the opening game. Although Li reduced the gap to 15–13, Sen responded strongly by winning six consecutive points to close out the game.
The second game was more competitive. Li made a solid start and even held a one-point lead at the mid-game interval. However, Sen turned the match around by winning four consecutive points from 14–13, establishing control and ensuring there was no comeback from the Chinese player.
After the match, Sen said his main focus during the long rallies was to avoid making mistakes, as both players were getting tired.
He said, “There were a lot of long rallies, and I was getting tired. But my coach told me that he was also getting tired, so I just made sure I didn’t make mistakes.”
Looking ahead, Sen said he is not thinking too far ahead and will focus on recovering well before the semifinal and taking one match at a time.
