Rising Indian male shuttler Lakshya Sen, who stunned defending champion Lee Zii Jia 21-13, 12-21, 21-19 in three games in the semi-final of the All England Championships, created history as he became only the fifth Indian to reach the final of the prestigious tournament. Up against Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the final, Lakshya went down fighting 21-10, 21-15 against the current World No. 1.Lakshya was eyeing to become the first Indian in 21 years to win the prestigious title after Pullela Gopichand - who had won it in 2001. The last time an Indian reached the AEC final was in 2005 where Saina Nehwal reached the summit clash. Apart from Gopichand, Prakash Padukone is only the second Indian to win the reputed title in 1980.Axelsen was right on the money from the word go as he cruised to a 6-0 lead in the first game. In the mid-game interval, he extended it to nine points. He sealed the first game 21-10 in 22 minutes without breaking a sweat.In the second game, both players showed aggression from the first point but it was the World No. 1 who continued to dominate the proceedings and had a four-point lead at the mid-game interval.Playing in his fourth consecutive All-England final, Axelsen's smashes proved to be too hot to handle for Sen - who was playing in his first All England Open Championships. In 31 minutes, Axelsen won the second game to lift the trophy.Prior to the final, the two had met on five occasions, where Axelsen emerged victorious in four matches. However, in their most recent on-field outing, Lakshya defeated the current World No. 1 in the semi-final of the German Open 2022.The last time an Indian reached the final of All England was Saina Nehwal in 2015 where she ended up as runners-up and the last time an Indian who won All England Badminton Championships 2022 was Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Only two Indians have won this tournament before - Prakash Padukone in 1980 and Gopichand in 2001.
source https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/badminton/lakshya-sen-loses-to-viktor-axelsen-in-all-england-championships-final-article-90339375
