All England Badminton Championships: Lakshya Sen falls short of scripting history, loses semi-final against Jonatan Christie

The Indian challenge at the 2024 All England Badminton Championships came to a grinding halt on March 16 (Saturday) after Lakshya Sen went down in the men's singles semi-final against Indonesia's Jonatan Christie. In a pulsating contest that saw some breathtaking rallies and relentless attacks, particularly from Sen, went down to the wire before Christie pulled away towards the end of the third game.

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In the end, Sen's dream of winning the most prestigious title in badminton came crashing down as Christie registered a 21-12, 10-21, 21-15 at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.

What did Lakshya Sen say after the match?

In the semi-final, fatigue played a major role as Sen looked out of gas during the third game after playing exceedingly well in the second game to claw his way back into the match. But with Sen's playing style revolving around relentless powerful smashes, it turned out to be energy-sapping in the end.

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"All the matches that I played were really long and I could feel it in the recovery and the next match preparation. But I think I started really slowly in some of the matches in the first set, having the lead and not being able to convert those first setters. This is one thing that I want to close matches in two games so that I'm a bit fresher," said Sen.

"Yeah, really happy with the way I played the second game but disappointed that I couldn't do well. I was hoping for better results. The way I played in the second set, I could have done a bit more. He started playing well in the third set, the rallies were long. It became a game of patience, I made a few errors here and there at crucial times," he added.

Sen looked out of sorts in 1st and 3rd game

Lakshya Sen was slow to get off the blocks as had been the case with him right through the tournament. Christie capitalised on Sen's slow start and secured the first game with relative ease.

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In the second game, Sen completely outplayed his Indonesian opponent and looked set to carry the momentum in the decider. The Indian shuttler began with confidence, winning three points in a row to start the third game. Christie answered back with three consecutive points of his own as fatigue crept into Sen and he began making crucial mistakes and unforced errors. 

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