Lakshya Sen stuns World No. 6 Chou Tien Chen to reach Australian Open final

Lakshya Sen. Pic/Getty Images

Lakshya Sen stormed into the men's singles final of the Australian Open with a gritty three-game win over World No. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei on Saturday. Lakshya, ranked 14th in the world, recovered from an opening-game setback and saved three game points in the second game to register a 17-21, 24-22, 21-16 win.

Lakshya looked patchy early on while Chen was far more precise with his shot selection and smashes, which helped the latter clinch the first game, but not before a gritty fightback from the Indian which saw the two trade a 44-shot rally.

In the second game, both players matched each other's prowess with the scores level at 20-20. But then Lakshya saved three game points before sealing the second game as Chen went long.

Age difference seemed to come into play as Lakshya looked fresher than Chen, 35, whose movement grew laboured while the errors piled on. The Indian raced to a 14-7 lead and although Chen saved four match points, he was powerless to stop Lakshya's momentum.

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