After the exit of big names like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2022, the whole of India’s expectations lies on giant-killer Lakshya Sen as the 20-year-old aims to become the third Indian to win the prestigious title in Birmingham. (More Badminton News)
Lakshya, the winner of bronze medal at BWF World Championships in Spain last year, has been in imperious form throughout the season so far. He won the Indian Open 2022 at home before finishing runner-up at the German Open 2022.
Continuing his rich form, the Almora-born lad stunned world no. 3, Anders Antonsen of Denmark, in 55 minutes at Arena Birmingham on Thursday. On Friday, Lakshya cruised into the semifinals without much fuss after his Chinese World Co. 27 Lu Guang Zu opponent gave a walkover.
The All England Open Badminton Championships 2022 can be seen live on the subscription-based Voot Select platform and Jio TV in India. MTV and VH1 TV Channels will also live telecast the All England Open Badminton Championships 2022 in India.
One can also watch the games at bwf.tv.
Lakshya, ranked 11th in the world, will next face Indonesian Lee Zii Jia in the semifinals. Lakshya will play six-seed Lee Zii Jia, who defeated second-seed Japanese Kento Momota 21-16, 21-12 in the quarterfinals, at 7:30 PM IST on Saturday.
In women's doubles, the pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand on Friday progressed to the semifinals after registering a shocking win over Korean second seeds Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan. The Indian duo won 14-21, 22-20, 21-15 in an hour and seven minutes to join Lakshya in the semis of the prestigious tournament.
Meanwhile, it was curtains for the fifth-seed Indian men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy as they lost to 22-24, 17-21 to Indonesian top seed Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in 47 minutes in the quarters.
The Indian women's doubles pair will face Zhang Shu and Zheng Yu of China in the semifinals on Saturday. The match starts at 12:30 AM IST. Only two Indians have ever won the All England Open Badminton Championships – Prakash Padukone in 1980 and Pullela Gopichand in 2001.
