Bulgaria Open: Junior world No 1 Lakshya Sen puts up gritty display to book place in semifinal

New Delhi: Talented shuttler Lakshya Sen on Wednesday dished out a gritty performance against Poland’s Michal Rogalski to advance to the semifinals of the Bulgaria Open International Series at Sofia in Bulgaria.

Lakshya, who had reached the finals at Senior National Championship in February, defeated Michal 20-22 21-18 21-15 in a men’s singles match that lasted an hour and 10 minutes.

The Uttarakhand shuttler, who turned 16 on Wednesday, will next take on Sri Lanka’s Dinuka Karunaratna in the semifinals on Thursday.

The World Junior No. 1 shuttler was recently sent to train under former All England champion Peter Gade, who is currently the head coach of France.

In women’s singles competition, Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka played her heart out before going down 21-16 17-21 17-21 to local hope Maria Delcheva in the quarterfinals.

In June, Vaishnavi had won her maiden international title when she triumphed in the U-15 girls singles and U-17 girls doubles at the Pilot Pen Age Group Badminton Championship in Singapore.