World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen advanced to the men's singles semifinals of the All England Championships after his opponent Lu Guang Zu of China gave a walkover on Friday.
The 20-year-old from Almora, who had secured his maiden Super 500 title at India Open in January and then claimed a runners-up finish at the German Open last week, will face the winner of the match between Malaysia's sixth seed Lee Zii Jia and Japan's second seed Kento Momota in the last four round.
Fifth seeded Indian pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, failed to cross the quarterfinal hurdle losing 22-24, 17-21 to Indonesian top seed Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in 47 minutes.
Sen had stunned world no.3 and two-time medallist at World Championships Anders Antonsen of Denmark 21-16, 21-18 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals.
Earlier this month, Lakshya Sen accounted for Tokyo Olympics champion Viktor Axelsen in the German Open semi-finals and defeated world No. 3 Anders Antonsen in his last match.
In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, daughter of former All England Open champion Pullela Gopichand, moved into the semi-finals after causing an upset against South Korea’s Lee Sohee and Shin Seungchan. Treesa and Gayatri, world no 46, notched up a stunning 14-21, 22-20, 21-15 win over Lee and Shin in hour and seven minutes to join men's singles shuttler Lakshya Sen in the semifinals of the prestigious tournament.
Both teams began the match strongly and were tied at 13-all in the first game. The South Korean duo, however, upped the ante and pocketed the first game with a comfortable margin.
The second game saw the Indian teenagers save two match points and take the game into the decider.
After the third game was tied eight-all, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who had also stunned India Open champions Benyapa Aimsaard and Nuntakarn Aimsaard in the opening round, took five straight points and won the match in 67 minutes.
