Badminton, All England Open: Lakshya Sen goes down to Jonatan Christie in hard-fought semi-final

Indian badminton star Lakshya Sen’s campaign at the All England Open came to an end of Saturday after he lost to Jonatan Christie in the men’s singles semi-finals.

Sen, who finished as runner up in the 2022 edition, lost to Christie 12-21, 21-10, 15-21 in an hour and eight minutes.

It was a close start to the match with both sides exchanging the lead in the opening game. Christie began to stitch together consecutive points to take a 9-7 and then a 15-8 lead. Sen could not muster a comeback as Christie took the first game 21-12.

The second game was a one-sided affair as Sen raced away with the lead. Leading 4-3, he won 13 of the next 14 points to take a 17-4 lead. His Indonesian opponent could not find a way back as Sen won the second game 21-10 to force a decider.

Both players exchanged points at the start of the third game. However, Christie took the lead at the mid-game break at 11-8. The 2018 Asian Games gold medallist held on to his lead and at 15-12 won five points in a row to bring up eight match points.

Sen could only save three as Christie wrapped up the win and secure his place in the final against compatriot Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.