Birmingham, March 7 Top Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen advanced to the All England Open Badminton Championships men's singles final with a hard-fought victory over Canada's Victor Lai in the semifinals here on Saturday.
The 12th-ranked Sen defeated world number 16 Lai 21-16 18-21 21-15 in a match that lasted one hour and 37 minutes.
Lai had won a bronze medal in the World Championships in Paris last year.
This will be Sen's second final appearance in the prestigious tournament, having finished as runner-up in 2022.
Sen, who continued his impressive run in the BWF Super 1000 tournament, will face Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi in the final on Sunday.
Chun-Yi defeated world number two Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the other semifinal on Saturday.
Sen had beaten China's world No. 6 Li Shi Feng in straight games in the quarterfinals on Friday. He had also stunned world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China in the first round.
