India Open: Lin Chun-Yi outclasses Lakshya Sen to end India's run

Lakshya Sen (Image credit: BAI)

NEW DELHI: In elite badminton, talent alone rarely settles a contest — adaptation does. Lakshya Sen brought intensity, resilience and shot-making to the court on Friday, but the shifting conditions inside the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium proved unforgiving. Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei read the drift quicker, manipulated the speed of the court smarter, and turned the environment into a weapon, edging past Lakshya 17-21, 21-13, 21-18 in a gripping three-game quarterfinal to knock out the last Indian standing at the India Open Super 750 tournament here.

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The quarterfinal promised intrigue even before the first shuttle was struck. Lakshya came in trailing Lin 0–4 in their head-to-head, fully aware that he would need a near-perfect performance against his speedy left-handed opponent. Lin, compact and explosive, thrives on taking the shuttle early and suffocating opponents at the net. Lakshya, by contrast, prefers to construct points patiently, probing for weaknesses. What followed was a fascinating tactical duel shaped as much by skill as by the tricky drift inside the hall. Aware that Lin was playing from the faster side of the court in the opening game, Lakshya cleverly worked the forecourt, drawing his opponent into tight net exchanges and forcing him to lift under pressure. The plan worked beautifully. After the mid-game interval, Lakshya surged ahead, using his defence to absorb Lin’s attacks before turning defence into offence with flat pushes and well-timed smashes. He pocketed the opening game, looking assured and composed, feeding off the crowd’s energy. The match turned the moment the players changed ends. From the slower side of the court, Lakshya’s lifts began to betray him. A fraction too long, a shade too loose, they sat up invitingly for Lin, who pounced with ruthless efficiency. The Taipei shuttler tightened his net play, cut down Lakshya’s angles, and began dictating the tempo. Where Lakshya had controlled the rallies in the first game, he was now being rushed. Lin ran away with the second game 21-13, forcing a decider and shifting the psychological momentum firmly in his favour. The third game was a test of nerve and nuance. Lakshya burst out of the blocks, racing to a 4-0 lead, briefly suggesting he had recalibrated to the conditions. But Lin responded with composure. He slowed the game down, dragged Lakshya into longer net exchanges, and neutralised the Indian’s attacking intent. By the time they reached the change of ends, the contest was finely poised, but the real damage came immediately after. Lin reeled off six straight points, exploiting the faster side of the court with surgical precision to open up an 18-15 lead. It looked decisive. Yet Lakshya refused to go quietly. Digging deep, he found another gear, tightening his net play and pushing Lin into errors. At 18-18, the stadium rose, sensing a dramatic finish. That was when Lin stepped on the gas, opting for an all-out attacking approach. Flat pushes, early interceptions and fearless shot selection followed. Lakshya, who admitted later he had been “shaky at the net” and troubled by the wind, could not hold him off. Lin closed out the contest 17-21, 21-13, 21-18 in 68 minutes, sealing a fifth straight win over the Indian and silencing a partisan crowd. “It was a close match,” Lakshya said after the match. “The third set was more of a pressure game. He played well today... as per the conditions. I was not prepared for the wind. It was not that windy yesterday. He adapted to the conditions better.” Lakshya also pointed to the decisive juncture where things slipped. “I was shaky at the net to lift the shuttle and made multiple errors from the front,” said the 24-year-old. Lin moved into the semifinals, where he will face Canada’s Victor Lai, the 2025 World Championships bronze medallist, who overcame Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen in three games 21-18, 17-21, 21-15. The other men’s singles semifinal promises fireworks as former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore takes on Indonesia’s third seed Jonatan Christie. Loh produced one of the upsets of the tournament in the quarterfinals, rallying from a game down to beat second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 14-21, 21-15, 21-17, while Christie edged past France’s Christo Popov in straight games 21-19, 21-19. The women’s singles lineup is no less compelling. Former champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand rolled back the years with a commanding win over USA’s Beiwen Zhang 21-16, 21-12, while top seed An Se-young of South Korea cruised past Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-16, 21-8. The other semifinal will be an all-Chinese showdown between second seed Wang Zhi Yi and Chen Yu Fei.

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