Birmingham, March 5 Lakshya Sen delivered a tenacious performance to defeat Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus and advance to the men's singles quarterfinals of the All England Open Badminton Championships here on Thursday.
World No. 12 Lakshya, who was a finalist in the 2022 edition, looked sharp as he battled through intense rallies and physical exchanges to outlast Ng Ka Long, a former world top 10 player, 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 in a thrilling round-of-16 match.
Lakshya, who won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships, will face either China's sixth seed Li Shi Feng or Ireland's Nhat Nguyen next.
Lakshya came into the match after losing all three encounters against his opponent and initially fell behind in the opening game. He fought back from 4-6 down to establish a 15-11 lead, putting pressure on his opponent with aggressive returns and precise placement.
He extended the advantage to 17-13 with a well-timed overhead attack, but Ng Ka Long refused to give up and narrowed the gap late in the game.
At 15-17, Lakshya left one at the backline, but it was ruled out. The Indian had no more video challenges and had to accept the decision. Lakshya then produced a sharp smash to reach 19-17, but Ng Ka Long equalized at 19-19 with a cross-court winner.
Another jump smash gave Lakshya a game point, and he sealed the victory when Ng Ka Long hit wide.
Lakshya started the second game with a cross-court smash to maintain the momentum. He kept his shot quality consistent and mixed his power with precision to take a 11-4 lead at the interval. Lakshya then produced another phenomenal straight smash to make it 14-7.
At 12-17, Ng Ka Long engaged in another superlative rally, stretching Lakshya to the limit. Ng Ka Long then produced a spirited fightback. He upped his game and won five of the last five points to move to 17-19.
Another incredible cross-court smash brought up three match points for Lakshya.
But Lakshya missed one, and then Ng Ka Long saved another by hitting the line. This brought the score to 20-20.
Lakshya then grabbed another match point, only to concede it, and then Ng Ka Long earned a game point with a smash, forcing the match into a deciding game after Lakshya hit the net.
Lakshya had to reset his mind and start afresh after Ng Ka Long won the second game, and he then showed great mental strength as he surged to a 6-2 lead with some exciting shots. His defence was robust, and Ng Ka Long couldn't get past anything.
Another precise cross-court took the Indian to 10-4. Soon he had a six-point cushion at the interval after producing an incredible cross-court net deception.
The rallies started getting shorter as Lakshya drew errors from the Hong Kong shuttler, who trailed 6-14 at that stage.
Ka Long tried to cause problems for Lakshya, but the Indian managed to wriggle out of position with his superb defence, diving at will to keep the rallies alive.
Lakshya then upped the speed and injected pace into the rallies to move to 18-7. He pounced on another weak return at the net to move just two points away.
Lakshya soon earned 11 match points when Ka Long hit the net. He then wasted one, and another shot from the Hong Kong shuttler sailed out.
