Lakshya ousts reigning champ to enter quarters

There is a special relationship Lakshya Sen shares with the All England Open.

- Sandip Sikdar

NEW DELHI: First and foremost, the 23-year-old has grown up under the influence of his mentor and former champion Prakash Padukone.

In 2022, he followed in the footsteps of Padukone to reach the final of the world's oldest badminton tournament, that too against run of form, beating much higher ranked opponents. Last year, the Almora-born was all but out of the Race to Paris before a semi-final appearance in Birmingham helped him qualify for his maiden Olympics where he missed a medal by a whisker.

This year too, Sen has been suffering with poor form, having exited all competitions he has taken part in, in early rounds. It perhaps takes his special relationship with the All England Open to change things around which is exactly what Sen did when he beat reigning champion and world No.2 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-13, 21-10 to make the men's singles quarter-finals of the $1.45 million event on Thursday.