Young Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen defeated Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin of Malaysia 21-8, 21-18 to storm into the semi-finals of the men's singles event of the BWF World Junior Championship in Markham, Canada. A place in the last four assures at least a bronze medal finish.
The World Number 3 Lakshya opened strongly against his Malaysian rival and completed the quarter-finals tie in just 31 minutes. He surged ahead with a solid lead in the first game where his opponent was a mute spectator.
But in the second game, the Malaysian did well to keep abreast of Lakshya and was separated only by a few points. The Indian used his court craft and hitting to lead throughout.
In the semi-finals, Lakshya will take on the top-seeded Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, who disposed of Indonesian Alberto Alvin Yulianto 21-14, 21-17.
He is a very good player and I am aware of it. I will have to be on my feet to beat him. I am up for the challenge.Lakshya Sen
However, the Indian pair of Vishnu Vardhan Panjala and Srikrishna Sai Podile could not progress any further as the duo went down to Koreans Tae Yang Shin and Chan Wang in the quarter-finals. The 10th-seeded Koreans won 21-11, 21-8 in the men's doubles quarter-finals.
The Indian doubles pair was no match to the Koreans which worked in tandem and complimented each other with better display, especially at the net.
(With inputs from PTI)
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