India’s Lakshya Sen produced a gutsy and relentless performance to beat Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus to reach the men’s singles quarter-finals at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Thursday.
World number 12 Lakshya, a 2022 finalist, looked razor sharp as he fought back with intense rallies and physical exchanges to outlast Ng Ka Long, a former world top 10 player, 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 in a pulsating round of 16 match.
Lakshya, a bronze medalist at the 2021 World Championships, will next face either China’s sixth seed Li Shi Feng or Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen.
Lakshya entered the match having lost all three of his previous encounters against Ng Ka Long and falling behind early in the opening game. However, the Indian fought back from 4-6 down to build a 15-11 lead and kept the pressure on his opponent with aggressive returns and sharp placements.
He extended the advantage to 17-13 with a well-timed attack from the top, but Ng Ka Long refused to fade and closed the gap late in the game.
At 15-17 Lakshya left one at the back line but it was called. The Indian had no video calls left and had to take the call. Lakshya then produced a sharp smash to make it 19-17, but Ng Ka Long came back to make it 19-19 with a back-and-forth winner.
Another jump smash gave Lakshya a game point and he sealed the opener as Ng Ka Long hit wide.
Lakshya opened the second game with a cross-court smash to keep the momentum going. He maintained consistent shot quality and mixed power with accuracy to take an 11-4 lead at the break. Lakshya followed it up with another straight smash to move ahead 14-7.
At 12-17, Ng Ka Long mounted another tough rally and stretched the Indian to the limit to stay afloat. The Hong Kong shuttler then launched a spirited fightback, upping the intensity and winning five straight points to close the gap to 17-19.
Another incredible smash across the court gave Lakshya three match points.
However, the Indian could not finish the match. He missed one opportunity before Ng Ka Long found the line by the narrowest of edges and saved another to make it 20-20.
Lakshya won another match point but again failed to convert. Ng Ka Long then produced a powerful smash to claim game point and force the match to decide after Lakshya found the net.
Lakshya had to reset after letting the second game slip away and responded strongly in the decider. He took a 6-2 lead with a flurry of attacking strikes while his defense remained firm as Ng Ka Long struggled to find openings.
Another accurate shot across the court brought the Indian up 10-4. Lakshya soon took a six-point cushion into the break after pulling off an excellent mid-court net trick.
The rallies began to shorten as Lakshya forced errors from the Hong Kong shuttler, who were trailing 6-14 at that stage.
Ng Ka Long tried to cause problems but Lakshya repeatedly wriggled out of difficult positions with great defense and leaped across the pitch to keep the rally alive.
Lakshya then increased the tempo of the exchanges to move to 18-7. He pounced on another weak return at the net to move to within two points of victory.
Lakshya got 11 match points early when Ng Ka Long found the net. The Indian missed one before another shot from the Hong Kong shuttle flew long, sealing the win and sending Lakshya into the quarter-finals.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
05 March 2026 17:57 IST
