German Open: Lakshya Sen upsets world no.1 Viktor Axelsen in semis, Kunlavut Vitidsarn awaits in final

World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen stunned Olympic gold winner Viktor Axelsen in a hard-fought match to enter the final of German Open Super 300 tournament on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Sen, who had claimed his maiden Super 500 title at the India Open in January, continued his rich vein of form as he sent the world No. 1 and top-seed Axelsen packing with a 21-13 12-21 22-20 win in the semi-final that lasted one hour and 10 minutes.

It was a memorable performance from the world No. 12 Indian as he recorded his first win over his highly-fancied rival who has a 4-0 head-to-head record before Saturday's match.

@lakshya_sen drops another master class performance as he bt World no & Tokyo Olympics medalist @ViktorAxelsen in a 3 game thriller to enter the FINAL at #GermanOpen2022 . 21-13,12-21,22-20.

Keep rocking, lad!#IndiaontheRise #Badminton pic.twitter.com/LixguQIV9v

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 12, 2022

In the final on Sunday, Sen will face Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn who beat Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the other semi-final. 

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Sen was ahead throughout the first game that lasted 21 minutes. He did not give the Dane any chance to get ahead of him. Axelsen found it difficult to match Sen's pace in the first game.

Sen opened up with a 4-1 lead and then extended it to 9-4. But Axelsen narrowed it down to 7-9 before Sen grabbed four consecutive points to make it 13-7. Sen's attacking game paid dividends as he took five consecutive points to lead 18-10 before clinching the first game with ease.

Alert: SENsational battle ahead 

Lakshya Sen up against Viktor Axelsen in MS semifinal at #GermanOpen2022 

All the best champ!#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/UypGq6ZXLK

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 12, 2022

Axelsen made a comeback in the second game to make it one all and take the match to the decider. He was trailing 3-8 early on but used his height and reach to good effect to take five consecutive points and level the score at 8-8 before zooming ahead. From there on, Sen lost way and Axelsen pocketed the second game without any fuss.

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The two players left their best for the last as they fought tooth and nail in the dramatic deciding game. It turned out to be a battle of nerves as rallies got longer with both fighting for each point. From 2-2, it was 4-4 and then 6-6 before Axelsen zoomed ahead 15-8.

#GermanOpenSuper300

In case you missed it last night, @lakshya_sen produced an epic fightback against world No 1 and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen from 8-15 down in the decider.

 Match highlights via BWFpic.twitter.com/LQkNxBzZTh

— The Field (@thefield_in) March 13, 2022

But the young Indian fought his way back in a remarkable fashion to close the gap to 15-17 and then to 17-19. He levelled the score 19-19 and then 20-20 before sealing the match with two consecutive points.

In the quarterfinals, Sen had seen off fellow Indian and former top 10 player HS Prannoy 21-15 21-16.