Lakshya Sen Beats Shi Feng in Final to Win Canada Open 2023

Calgary: It was a night to remember for young Lakshya Sen in Calgary on Sunday as he went on to beat Li Shi Feng 21-18, 22-20 in straight sets. The Indian schuttler was down four game points in the second set. Not only did he save all the game points but ended up clinching the game and the championship. The world number 19 got off the blovks well in the opening game and maintained his lead throughout. After being outplayed in the opening game, Feng bounced back in the second game but it was too little too late. It was Sen’s second BWF World Tour title after a triumph at the Indian Open in early 2022.

A former world number 6, Sen had undergone nose surgery for a deviated septum after the World Championships last August and took a lot of time to recover after treatment.

Sen last played a final at the Commonwealth Games in August last year. After a series of early exits from tournaments, he showed signs of recovery when he reached the semifinals of the Thailand Open.

Earlier, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, however, couldn’t produce her top game and went down 14-21, 15-21 to world no. 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in her women’s singles semifinal.

After losing in Round of 16 in the All England Championship 2023 and a quarter-finals finish in the Indonesian Masters, Sen lost to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-final of the Thailand Open last month in June. And the performance in the Canada Open just proves that Sen was building up slowly as his last final appearance came in the All England Open last year when he lost to Victor Axelsen.