BIRMINGHAM: Lakshya Sen‘s dream run on the All England Championships ended with a heartbreaking straight-game loss in opposition to world primary and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen within the males’s singles ultimate, persevering with India’s 21-year-long agonising await the coveted trophy.
After 4 days of sensational badminton, the 20-year-old Sen faltered on the cusp of historical past as he dedicated too many errors to go down 10-21, 15-21 to former champion Axelsen in a lop-sided summit conflict that lasted 53 minutes on the Barclaycard Area.
As it happened
On Saturday, Sen had turn out to be solely the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980, 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) to succeed in the ultimate of the distinguished event after outwitting defending champion Lee Zii Jia in a gruelling semifinal.
Every week again, Sen had recorded his first win over former world champion Axelsen en path to his ultimate look on the German Open however he could not maintain his craft on Sunday as his highly-fancied rival returned the favours, claiming his fifth general win in opposition to the Indian.
Whereas 2020 winner Axelsen claimed the lads’s singles title for the second time, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi gained the ladies’s singles crown, beating South Korea’s An Seyoung 21-15 21-15 within the ultimate.

Regardless of the loss, it has been a creditable efficiency for Sen, who remains to be in his early days in elite-level badminton.
A product of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, Sen has been in sensational kind within the final six months.
He secured his maiden world championships bronze in December final, earlier than successful his first Tremendous 500 title at India Open in January and ending runner-up on the German Open final week.