King Cup International Badminton Open 2024: Lakshya Sen stunned by junior world champion in semi-finals

India’s Lakshya Sen failed to make the final of the King Cup International Badminton Open 2024 following a narrow loss in the semis at Shenzhen, the People’s Republic of China, on Saturday.

Sen, India’s best-placed singles player in the badminton rankings at world No. 12, lost to China’s Hu Zhe'an, the current junior world No. 1 and world champion, by a 21-19, 21-19 scoreline.

The two shuttlers seemed fairly evenly matched in the first game and were tied at 17-17 before the 18-year-old Chinese player edged ahead.

Lakshya Sen, who made the semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, managed to save one game point but couldn’t stop world No. 183 Hu Zhe'an from taking the lead in the match.

Hu Zhe'an, who upset former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the opening round, took the upper hand in the early exchanges of the second game as well and led by three points at the midway mark.

Lakshya, however, found a new gear after the restart and drew level at 13-all before surging to a 19-16 lead.

Just when it seemed that the Indian badminton player was poised to take the match to a decider, Hu Zhe'an, with the help of some spectacular and gutsy winners, flipped the contest on its head and took the next five points to seal his victory.

In the final, Hu Zhe'an will play Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, who beat French player Alex Lanier 21-15, 21-13 in the other semis clash.

Lanier and Sen will face off in the third-place playoff on Sunday.

Lakshya Sen, who made the semis after beating Hong Kong China’s Angus Ng Ka Long in the quarters, is India’s only representative in the invitational tournament.

This is the inaugural edition of the King Cup badminton tournament, launched by two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China. The tournament features a men’s singles competition with eight players in the fray.

The King Cup International Badminton Open does not offer ranking points and is not a part of the BWF calendar.