Lakshya Sen overcame blisters and cramps to register a memorable 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 win against Victor Lai in a 97-minute marathon semi-final at the 2026 All England Open Super 1000 on Saturday.
In a match with long rallies and impeccable defensive display from Lai, Sen was forced to bring out every last ounce of energy he had in the tank to reach his second All England Final. He is only the second Indian to achieve the feat after the legendary Prakash Padukone, who had clinched the title in 1981.
“I was taking one point at a time. Starting of the third game, I felt cramps on the legs. I didn’t know, if I can go all the way,” Sen told BWF after the win.
It was a closely fought battle right from the start, with Sen leading 17-16 in the opening game. The 24-year-old from Almora upped the ante to win four straight points and pocket the game.
The second game saw the Indian struggle with the drift from the far end. Shots went wide and he was tested to the limit by the unbreakable Lai defence. The Canadian kept diving across the court making retrievals, each of those with the potential to make into the highlight reel.
Early in the second game, Sen asked the umpire for a break.
“I’ve a blister in my shoe,” he said, asking for permission to take his shoe off.
Sen sat on the sidelines, removed his right shoe, and adjusted the tape on his toe before carrying on.
He hung on for most part, not allowing to the 2025 world championship bronze medallist to run away, with the game eventually, surrendering 18-21.
The rallies only continued to get longer in the decider, with an 86-shot rally on display. With both level at 4-4, neither shuttlers want to attack and kept playing like you see in warm-ups, before Sen eventually upped the tempo to catch his opponent by surprise.
Lai still managed to send the shuttle back, not once but twice from awkward positions before the chair umpire called fault. He felt the shuttlecock touched the Canadian’s body. Replays showed otherwise, but there was nothing Lai could do.
Sen’s speed stood out as he jumped on to the net from deep rapidly, to catch Lai off guard while opening up an 11-7 lead.
The Indian required some assistance from his physio, who was present on the courtside, as he started cramping his thighs. He picked up a yellow card for delay due to it after the change of ends.
Sen was visibly struggling to walk in the final game, and was often rooted to just one position.
He wanted another break, but the umpire denied.
“You either play on or retire,” the umpire ordered.
Lakshya Sen getting a massage during the 2026 All England Open semi-final (Photo credit: Screengrab/JioHotstar)
Thankfully for Sen, Lai was also out of gas by then. The defence, which was his biggest ally, started to break and loose shots started to creep in.
Sen dug deep to emerge victorious after a gruelling encounter.
He will next take on Lin Chun Yi in the final on Sunday. Sen trails 0-4 in head-to-head encounters against the Chinese Taipei shuttler and will hope to have a good recovery before he steps on to the court for one final time in
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