US Open: Indian challenge ends as Sen bows out in semis

Council Bluffs (US): Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen fought hard before going down in three games against reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of China in the men's singles semifinals of the US Open badminton tournament here.

A Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Lakshya, seeded third here, lost 17-21, 24-22, 17-21 against second-seed Feng in a gruelling last-four match that lasted one hour and 16 minutes in the BWF Super 300 event on Saturday night.

It was a close fight between world No. 7 Feng and Lakshya, ranked 12th, in the opening game till 17 points before the Chinese surged ahead with aggressive play as the Indian committed some unforced errors to take the lead. But world championships bronze medallist Lakshya was in no mood to give up without a fight and bounced back strongly in the second game.

Just like the opener, the second game too witnessed a tooth-and-nail fight between the two shuttlers as they looked in no mood to give an inch to each other.

Both the players were involved in long rallies and tried to outwit each other with a mix of clever drop shots and smashes but the battle continued till 22 points before Lakshya pocketed two straight points to draw level and take the match into decider.

The decider was a carbon copy of the first game as Feng took the early initiative to lead 11-8 at the break. But Lakshya kept himself in the hunt till 17 points before his Chinese opponent pressed the accelerator to pocket the game and the contest.

Lakshya, who enjoyed an 5-2 win-loss record against Feng coming into the match, had defeated the Chinese 21-18, 22-20 to win the Canada Open, his second BWF Super 500 title last week.