India’s Lakshya Sen broke his three-match losing streak against China’s Li Shi Feng as he moved into the semi-finals of the 2026 All England Open Super 1000 with a 21-13, 21-16 straight games win on Friday.
Sen, the only Indian left in contention in the prestigious tournament, outplayed the sixth seeded Li in exactly an hour.
Despite having played two long deciders in the first two rounds of the competition, Sen looked rather fresh in the quarter-final against the higher ranked Chinese.
He was comfortable to bide his time in long rallies and was in no hurry to hit home winners, thereby reducing his usual errors.
The Indian expertly controlled the rallies, increasing or decreasing the pace of the game at will. For most of the match, Li was just reacting to the lower-ranked opponent’s relentless attacks.
Sen moved smooth on the court, reaching all four corners with ease when pushed. Despite looking completely exhausted after losing a 65-shot rally in the first game while leading 15-13, the Almora lad bounced back to win the next six points as well as the game.
Sen’s defence was immaculate as always, as evidenced by an out-of-the-world crosscourt backhand block, while leading 16-13 in the second game.
He rarely gave Li any concrete chances, but when he did the Chinese failed to take advantage. Nothing could capture it better than the final point of the match, with Li missing, possibly, the easiest smash of life by hitting long in a rally which Sen had given up on.
The Indian and his South Korean coach Yoo Yong Sung could only offer a wry smile in return to Li’s generosity.
The win propelled Sen to his third semi-final appearance at the All England Open, having previously reached there in 2022 and 2024.
He’ll now face off against the winner of the match between Koki Watanabe and Victor Lai on Saturday.
