E-Paper
Lakshya Sen eyes first All England crown, looks to emulate Padukone and Gopichand in final vs Lin Chun-yi
Lakshya Sen's mentor, Prakash Padukone, reached the All England final in 1980 and 1981, winning the title in his first appearance in the summit clash.
Lakshya Sen is set to face Taiwan's Lin Chun-yi in the final of the men's singles at the All England Open 2026 in Birmingham. Lakshya defeated Canada's Victor Lai in the semifinals, and the match was a thrilling affair lasting 1 hour and 37 minutes. The Indian shuttler eventually won 21-16 18-21 21-15. Meanwhile, Chun-yi beat Thai second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn, winning 21-14 18-21 21-16.
For Lakshya, the semifinal match tested his physical endurance. He had to battle with Chun-yi in multiple rallies, some of which went beyond 50 strokes.
Also Read: Lakshya Sen reaches All England Open final, defeats Victor Lai in thrilling semifinal
During the latter stages of his semifinal win on Saturday, Lakshya was also visibly cramping. But his father has dropped a huge update, claiming that his son's recovery is going according to plan. Speaking to RevSportz, he said, "When I spoke to him, he sounded comfortable. So I think he will be fine."
"He is trying his best to recover. The team is trying to help with food, massage, ice bath, swimming pool recovery, all the methods are being used. He will get some time to recover. He will eat properly and take plenty of fluids," he added.
Lakshya Sen chasing history
Lakshya's mentor, Prakash Padukone, reached the All England final in 1980 and 1981, winning the title in his first appearance in the summit clash. Then Pullela Gopichand is the only other Indian to take the All England, achieving it in 2001. This is Sen's second All England final, having finished as runner-up in 2022. Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal (2015) and Prakash Nath (1947) have finished as runners-up.
In the 2022 All England final, Lakshya lost to Viktor Axelsen, losing 10-21 15-21. But it was a tournament to remember for the Indian ace, as he beat ZJ Lee in the semis and GZ Lu in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, he beat Anders Antonsen in the Round of 16 and Sourabh Verma in the Round of 32.
Fitness - main factor
The main factor in the final will be how both players have recovered since their intense semifinals. Speaking after his win against Lai, Lakshya revealed that at the start of the third game, he suffered leg cramps and changed his strategy to finish rallies in the first few shots.
"I was just taking one point at a time. At the start of the third game, I could feel my legs cramp up. I didn’t know whether I could continue, but I was just fighting each point and not thinking about it," he said, after the match.
"That was the only strategy, to finish the rallies in the first few shots. He was quite steady, but we were both tired to push the pace. But it was important for me to do it towards the end," he added.
