The fourth day of the ongoing Japan Open Super 750 brought mixed results for the Indian badminton fans as Lakshya Sen advanced to the semifinals of the tournament after registering victory in straight sets over Koki Watanabe of the host country but the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to the Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lan of Chinese Taipei.
Lakshay continued his praiseworthy run and defeated Watanabe by 21-15 21-19 to book a semifinal berth for himself. The 2021 World Championship bronze medallist will now face the winner of the clash between Indonesia's Jonatan Christie and the third seed of the competition Kunlavut Vitidsarn. World No. 13 Lakshya has made rapid strides in the world of badminton recently after winning the India Open, Canada Open, and also the prestigious men's singles gold at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
The Indian prodigy maintained a lead over his Japanese opponent from the beginning of the fixture and was at a four points (11-7) advantage at the break during the opening game and sealed the same convincingly in a domineering fashion. The second game saw the Japanese make a remarkable turnaround as the world No. 33 took what looked like a defining seven points lead 14-7. However, a gritty Lakshya hung in and made commendable use of the drop shots to turn the tables around. His defiant approach came to his rescue as he clinched the second game by the barest of margins 21-19.
The match turned out to be a good test of Lakshya's character and it was evident from the way the 21-year-old celebrated. The Almora-born threw his racquet while celebrating the hard-fought win and embraced the gratification that came with it.
While Lakshya's win is an indication of his growth in stature, the agonising loss suffered by the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty by 15-21 25-23 16-21 to none other than the Olympic gold medallists also signifies how far they have come in their careers.
