Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen bagged the Canada Open 2023 with a win over reigning All England champion China's Li Shifeng on Sunday in Calgary.
Sen edged out the Chinese shuttler in straight sets - 21-18, 22-20 - to emerge triumphant in the competition.
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This was the second time in his career that Sen bagged a BWF World Tour 500 championship, the first being the India Open in January 2022.
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍 🏆😍
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) July 10, 2023
Lakshya defeated reigning All England winner 🇨🇳's Li Shi Feng to clinch the title 🔥💥
📸: @badmintonphoto#CanadaOpen2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton @lakshya_sen pic.twitter.com/4DIFquYoBK
How did Lakshya Sen perform in the Canada Open?
Ranked 19th in the world at the moment, Lakshya Sen defeated Thailand's world number 4 Kunlavut Vitidsarn (2118, 21-15) in the first round. He then went on to beat Brazil's Ygor Coelho and Belgium's Julien Carraggi in the second round and quarter-final respectively.
In the semi-final, Sen was up against fourth seed Japan's Kenta Nishimoto. In what was supposed to be a tough encounter for the Indian, he came out with flying colours beating the Japanese in straight sets to qualify (21-17, 21-14) for the final.
In the final, he got the better of reigning All-England champion Li Shifeng to bag the title.
He also became the second Indian men's badminton player after B Sai Praneeth (2016) to win the Canada Open.
How did the other Indian badminton players perform in Canada Open?
Other than Lakshya Sen, B Sai Praneeth took part in the men's singles category but was ousted from the tournament in the first round.
Rio Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu reached the semi-final in the women's singles but lost to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi. Other than Singh, Gadde R S participated in the women's singles category but was eliminated from round 1.
In men's doubles, Indian pair K P Garaga/V G Panjala lost in the second round while in women's doubles, the pairs of Rutaparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda and Ashwini Ponappa/Tanisha Crasto lost in their very first games.
The pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwin Ponappa took part in the mixed doubles category and were once again eliminated in the first round.
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Who is Canada Open champion Lakshya Sen?
Lakshya Sen was born in Almora, Uttarakhand and trained at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru. The 21-year-old is one of the brightest prospects in India at the moment.
Sen came to prominence in 2018 after he won the gold medal at the Asian Junior Championship that year.
Since turning a senior pro, the Indian shuttler has won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Championship and finished second at the 2022 All-England Open.
But his biggest feat to day is winning the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham beating Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong in the final.