Thailand Open Highlights: In the men’s singles match on Friday, star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen defeated Malaysian Leong Jun Hao in straight games to advance to the semifinals of the Thailand Open Super 500 competition.
The 21-year-old from Almora punched the air after hitting a jump smash that gave him a quarterfinal victory over the Malaysian qualifier by scores of 21-19, 21-11.
After coming close in the Indonesia Masters, where he lost in the quarterfinals, the victory enabled him to reach the last four for the first time this season.
Also Read: Thailand Open Highlights: Lakshya Sen, Kiran George enters quarterfinal, Saina Nehwal loses
The Indian, whose ranking has slipped to world number 23 from a career-high of six following below-par performances this season, will take on either fifth seed Lu Guang Zu of China or Thailand’s second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semifinals.
Kiran George’s giant run, however, came to an end after he went down 16-21 17-21 against Toma Junior Popov of France in another men’s singles match.
It was an exciting contest as Lakshya and Leong kept pushing each other from the start. But after a 10-11 deficit at the interval, the Indian fell behind as the Malaysian managed to hold a 16-10 lead.
But Lakshya then changed gears, stepping up the pace in the rallies to restore parity at 17-17 before pocketing the opening game as Leong looked tired.
After the change of ends, he kept a tight grip on the rallies as his returns were sharper and precise. Soon he led 11-8, before breaking off at 13-11. He accumulated the next 11 points in a jiffy to emerge winner.
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