By a Correspondent
New Delhi, November 17,
Lakshya Sen, living up to expectations, defeated Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin of Malaysia 21-8, 21-18 to enter the men singles semifinals in the Li Ning BWF World Junior Badminton Championships 2018 at Markham (Canada) on Friday night.
But the Indian pair of Vishnu Vardhan Panjala and Srikrishna Sai Podile could not progress any further as it went down to the Korean duo of Tae Yang Shin and Chan Wang in the quarterfinals. The 10th- seeded Koreans won 21-11, 21-8 in men’s doubles.
The world No. 3 Indian opened strongly against his Malaysian rival and finished the quarterfinals in just 31 minutes. He surged ahead with a solid lead in the first game where his opponent was a mute spectator.
But in the second, the Malaysian did well to keep abreast of Lakshya and was separated by a few points. The Indian, using his court craft and hitting a nice rhythm led throughout. The Asian Juniors champion, playing his strokes well with excellent smashes, ended the Malaysian agony.
In the semifinals, Lakshya will take on the top-seeded Kunlavut Vitidsarn who disposed of Indonesian Alberto Alvin Yulianto 21-14, 21-17.
Talking on his semifinal encounter, Lakshya said he was confident of a good performance against the Thai. “He is a very good player and I am aware of it. I will have to be on my feet to beat him. I am up for the challenge,” said the Indian.
In contrast, the Indian doubles pair was no match to the Koreans which worked in tandem and complimented each other with better display of court craft, especially at the net. Their smashes, too, brooked little challenge from the Indians.
