 "Lakshya Sen defeated Anders Antonsen despite being 2-8 down in the final game at All England Open. Reuters")
Lakshya Sen scripted a comeback win over world no. 3 Anders Antonsen to progress to the quarterfinals of the All England Championships on Thursday. India’s Sen was forced to register a stunning comeback from 2-8 down in the decider of the three-game match to reach the quarterfinals after he won the fist game but lost in the second round. Sen eventually defeated Antonsen, a three-time medallist at the World championships, 24-22, 11-21, 21-14 in a controversial match.
Sen came into the match with a 1-3 record against Antonsen, who had defeated the Indian in all the last three meetings. But the Indian produced a good show and was leading 17-15 in the first game after some close battles initially. With two winners, Antonsen made it 17-17 but Sen was the first to gain two game points with a precise backhand flick at the corner.
The Indian squandered five game points as Antonsen stayed alive.
Eventually at 22-22, two power-packed smashes gave Sen his fifth game point and he sealed it this time when the Dane sprayed wide.
After the change of ends, Antonsen was on top of things, leading 11-7 at the break. The Dane kept a firm hold on the rallies as Sen committed too many errors and the second game slipped away quickly.
In the decider, Antonsen was up 2-8 before grabbing a 11-6 lead at the interval.
But soon the momentum shifted as the Indian won seven of the next nine points to draw parity at 13-13.
At 14-16, Antonsen was called for a fault for touching the net, which rattled the Dane. “Fault? Why? Touched the net? My racket or body?”, an animated Antonsen could be heard saying to the chair umpire.
Sen soon unleashed a forehand winner to move to 16-14, which he swelled to 18-14 when a defensive shot went wide from Antonsen.
Another long rally ended up long as Lakshya stood two points away from a win. A smash gave him six match points and he converted when the Dane went wide.
With PV Sindhu losing to world No. 1 An Se Young on Thursday, Lakshya Sen is the only Indian left in the prestigious badminton tournament. He will face Lee Zii Jia in the quarterfinals on Friday.
With PTI inputs