India’s Lakshya Sen produced a gritty and relentless performance to beat Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus and storm into the men’s singles quarterfinals of the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Thursday.
World No. 12 Lakshya, a finalist at the 2022 edition, looked razor sharp as he fought through intense rallies and physical exchanges to outlast Ng Ka Long, a former world top-10 player, 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 in a pulsating round-of-16 contest.
Lakshya, the 2021 World Championships bronze medalist, will face either China’s sixth seed Li Shi Feng or Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen next.
Lakshya came into the match having lost all three of his previous encounters against Ng Ka Long and fell behind early in the opening game. The Indian, however, fought back from 4-6 down to establish a 15-11 lead, keeping the pressure on his opponent with aggressive returns and sharp placement.
He extended the advantage to 17-13 with a well-timed overhead attack, but Ng Ka Long refused to fade away and narrowed the gap late in the game.
At 15-17, Lakshya left one at the backline but it was judged out. The Indian had no video challenges left and had to accept the call. Lakshya then produced a sharp smash to reach 19-17, but Ng Ka Long clawed back to 19-19 with a cross-court winner.
Another jump smash gave Lakshya a game point and he sealed the opener when Ng Ka Long hit wide.
Lakshya began the second game with a cross-court smash to maintain the momentum. He kept his shot quality consistent and mixed power with precision to take an 11-4 lead at the interval. Lakshya followed it up with another straight smash to move ahead 14-7.
At 12-17, Ng Ka Long engaged in another demanding rally, stretching the Indian to the limit to keep himself afloat. The Hong Kong shuttler then mounted a spirited fightback, stepping up his intensity and winning five consecutive points to close the gap to 17-19.
Another incredible cross-court smash brought up three match points for Lakshya.
However, the Indian could not finish the match. He missed one opportunity before Ng Ka Long found the line by the narrowest of margins and saved another to make it 20-20.
Lakshya earned another match point but failed to convert again. Ng Ka Long then produced a powerful smash to earn a game point and forced the match into a decider after Lakshya found the net.
Lakshya had to reset after letting the second game slip away and responded strongly in the deciding game. He surged to a 6-2 lead with a series of attacking shots, while his defence remained solid as Ng Ka Long struggled to find openings.
Another precise cross-court shot took the Indian to 10-4. Lakshya soon carried a six-point cushion into the interval after producing a superb cross-court net deception.
The rallies began to shorten as Lakshya forced errors from the Hong Kong shuttler, who trailed 6-14 at that stage.
Ng Ka Long tried to create problems but Lakshya repeatedly wriggled out of difficult positions with superb defence, diving across the court to keep rallies alive.
Lakshya then increased the pace of the exchanges to move to 18-7. He pounced on another weak return at the net to move within two points of victory.
Lakshya soon earned 11 match points when Ng Ka Long found the net. The Indian missed one before another shot from the Hong Kong shuttler sailed long, sealing the win and sending Lakshya into the quarterfinals.
