All England C'ships: Lakshya Sen finishes runner-up; loses to Denmark's World No.1 Viktor Axelsen 10-21, 15-21

Lakshya Sen failed to conquer the final frontier in the All England C'ships, losing to World No.1 Viktor Axelsen in straight games.

Viktor Axelsen registered a fairly straightforward victory over India youngster Lakshya Sen in the men's singles final of the All England Championships on Sunday. The Denmark World No.1 won his second singles title in his fourth final appearance at the coveted event, defeating Sen 21-10, 21-15.

India's Lakshya Sen in action during the men's singles final against Denmark's Viktor Axelsen. (Action Images via Reuters)

Sen was the first Indian in 21 years to reach the men's singles final at the All England Championships.

Axelsen made a dominating start to the first game, sweeping six-successive points before Lakshya opened his account. The Indian youngster could score only 2 points at the mid-game break but played with more intent in the second half of the game. However, Axelsen continued to tire the Indian youngster as he cruised to a 21-10 win in the opening game.

The second game started on a pacy note as the shuttle kept changing on the racquet of both the players but it was again the athlete from Denmark who came out at the top in the mid-game break and this time with the lead of four points.

The Dane shuttler eventually called the match by winning the second game 21-15.

After taking part in this final, Sen is now only the fifth Indian - after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980 and 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) - to make the summit clash of All England.

India's rising badminton star has been in top form in recent times. He secured his maiden world championships bronze in December, before winning his first Super 500 title at India Open in January and finishing runner-up at the German Open last week.