Lakshya Sen enters Australian Open final

Sydney, Nov 22 (PTI) Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen stormed into the men’s singles final of the Australian Open Super 500 with a gritty three-game win over world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, here on Saturday.

Lakshya, a 2021 World Championships bronze-medallist, showed immense mental toughness to recover from an opening-game setback and outlast the second seed 17-21, 24-22, 21-16 in an 86-minute semifinal.

The 24-year-old, who reached the Hong Kong Open final earlier this year but is yet to win a title this season, will face either Japan’s Yushi Tanaka or Chinese Taipei’s fifth seed Lin Chun-Yi in Sunday’s summit clash.

Lakshya looked patchy early on while Chen was far more precise with his shot selection and execution, which allowed the Taiwanese to dominate the rallies. His steady play earned him a 11-6 lead at mid-game interval.

Chen's aggressive backcourt attack paid off as he raced to 14-7. Lakshya briefly halted the run with a big smash to the deep corner, but Chen immediately won back the serve with a sharp cross-court winner. The Indian kept feeding shuttles into Chen’s hitting zone, and the Taiwanese repeatedly unleashed his power smashes.

A net error from Lakshya made it 19-13 before Chen, who had committed a few soft mistakes, steadied himself again. At 19-15, the two played a 44-shot rally that ended with Chen delivering a killing blow to earn five game points. Lakshya saved two, but then drove one into the net to concede the opener.

After the change of ends, both players took time to adjust, trading errors as the score moved from 2-2 to 4-4. Chen’s pinpoint attacks began clicking again as he pulled ahead 7-4. But Lakshya fought back superbly, levelling at 9-9 with Chen’s defence beginning to fray. The Taiwanese’s aggression softened and his accuracy dipped as Lakshya applied pressure to take an 11-9 lead with a fine net shot.

Chen clawed back to 12-all after Lakshya pushed a smash wide. At 14-13, Lakshya showcased his defensive grit with a series of exceptional saves before finishing the point with a smash.

Chen won another attacking exchange and moved to 16-17 after Lakshya suffered an unfortunate net chord. The Taiwanese made it 17-all with a smash around the Indian’s hips and then edged ahead when Lakshya hit the net.

Lakshya sent one ballooning long and followed it with another mis-hit to hand Chen two match points.

But the Indian responded with a deep-corner winner, and Chen then hit the tape to make it 20-20. A tight net duel saw Chen claim his third match point, only to send the next shuttle long as the scores were levelled again.

Lakshya earned a game point with a smash that clipped the line. Chen saved it with a smash of his own, but the Indian grabbed a second opportunity with another brilliant winner and roared back into the match when Chen went long.

The difference in age seemed to come into play as a 24-year-old Lakshya looked more fresher than the 35-year-old Chen, whose movement grew laboured and errors mounted in the decider.

Lakshya raced to a 6-1 lead as Chen struggled for precision. Lakshya’s length improved, his net game turned sharper, and he read Chen far better.

Chen’s authority, which he had shown in the opening game, dissipated as Lakshya extended his lead to 10-5. He entered the interval 11-6 after Chen went long again.

The Indian extended it to 14-7 ahead. A service error from Chen pushed Lakshya to 17-9, and a crisp cross-court smash earned him eight match points. Chen saved four but eventually netted the shuttle, as Lakshya sealed an impressive comeback victory. PTI ATK DDV