Lakshya Sen keeps maiden All England Open title dreams alive; beats Canadian Victor Lai in hard-fought semifinal

Lakshya Sen kept his dream of a maiden All England Open title after the Indian stormed into the final of the men's singles event with a hard-fought win over Canadian Victor Lai in the semifinal on Saturday. This is Sen's second entry into the summit clash of the prestigious tournament, after he had lost to Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the final of 2022 edition.

Ranked 12th in the BWF rankings, Sen got better of the world no.16 Lai 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 in the match that lasted one hour and 37 minutes. Sen, who continued his dream run in the BWF Super 1000 tournament, will face Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi in the final on Sunday.

Chun-Yi beat second-ranked Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the other semifinal on Saturday. Earlier, Sen had beaten China's world No. 6 Li Shi Feng in straight games in the quarterfinals on Friday. He had stunned world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China in the first round.

Sen’s mentor Prakash Padukone had reached the All England final in 1980 and 1981 and won the title in his first appearance in the summit clash. The semifinal between Sen and Lai tested the physical endurance of both the players as they engaged in multiple rallies that went beyond 50 strokes.

It was Sen’s ability to find an extra gear that helped the Indian take the opening game that stayed neck-and-neck till 17-16. Sen then took four straight points to draw first blood. But Lai, the first Canadian player to win a BWF World Championships medal, bounced back in the second game and took a 11-7 lead at the mid game interval.

Sen, who was by then struggling with blisters, fought back to draw level at 16-16 only for Lai to once again pull away and take the match in the decider. The 24-year-old’s experience meant that he at time took calculated risks to take a sizeable 15-9 lead.

However, Lai is known for fighting till the end and he managed to close the gap at 17-15 before Sen once again won four straight points to reach the final. In the other semifinal, Lin Chun-Yi packed off second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-14, 18-21, 21-16 in an hour and 18 minutes.

How Indians have fared in All England Open 2026?

Baring Sen, none of the Indians could go beyond the first round. In men's singles Ayush Shetty lost to Indonesian Alwi Farhan Alhasny 21-19, 9-21, 17-21 in the first round. In women's singles Malvika Bansod lost to Chinese Chen Yufei 11-21, 6-21 while Unnati hooda surrendered in front of Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 12-21, 18-21.

In men's doubles, the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty disappointed with a loss to Malaysian duo of Aron Tai Wei Qin and Kang Khai Xing 21-23, 12-21. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost to Japanese pair of Sayaka Hirota and Ayako Sakuramoto 15-21, 21-15, 18-21 in women's doubles category.

Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was also on her way to compete at the All England Open 2026 but was stranded in Dubai amid tensions in middle-east She returned a day later to India.