Lakshya Sen enters semifinals of German Open

World Championships bronze medall Lakshya Sen continued his rich vein of form as he progressed to the men’s singles semifinals of the German Open Super 300 tournament with a straight-game win over fellow Indian H S Prannoy here on Friday.
The 20-year-old Sen, who had claimed his maiden Super 500 title at the India Open in January, saw off former top 10 player Prannoy 21-15 21-16 in 39 minutes. The world number 14 had defeated Prannoy, currently ranked 24th, at the quarterfinals of India Open as well.
Sen will now face the winner of the other quarterfinal match between Olympic champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen and India’s Kidambi Srikanth on Saturday. On Thursday, Sen had notched up a stunning 21-7 21-9 win over fourth seeded Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in a second-round match.

Prannoy made a positive start, opening up a 4-0 lead early on but Sen caught up with him at 10-10 and zoomed ahead after the interval to take a 1-0 lead in the tie. The second game was a tight affair initially as the duo moved neck and neck with Sen managing a slender 11-10 lead at the break.

But, just like in the first game, Sen produced a five-point burst to eventually seal the contest comfortably.