Lakshya Sen Vs Lin Chun-Yi Highlights, All England Open Final: Bruised Indian Goes Down Fighting

Good afternoon and welcome, folks! We are building up to the start of Lakshya Sen's summit clash against Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi in Birmingham. Stick around for what should be an exciting few hours ahead.

The match is second on court, with the mixed doubles final between Chinese Taipei's Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan and France's Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue starting off proceedings at around 4:30pm IST. Once the opener concludes, Sen and Lin will take the court.

The Lakshya Sen vs Lin Chun-Yi, All England Open 2026 final will be live streamed on the JioHotstar app and website in India and telecast on the Star Sports Khel TV channel in the country.

This is where the Indian has history stacked against him. Lin Chun-Yi has won all four previous encounters between the two players, starting from the Asia Junior Championships in 2017. Their latest face-off was at the India Open quarter-finals in January 2026, where the current world number 11 prevailed in three games (17-21, 21-13, 21-18).

Lakshya Sen has had a remarkable journey in the tournament so far. He packed off world number one Shi Yuqi 23-21, 19-21, 21-17 in the opening round, before beating Ng Ka Long Angus 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 to enter the quarter-finals.

Sen then got the better of China's sixth-seeded Li Shifeng by a 21-13, 21-16 margin to storm into the last four. In the semis, the world number 12 braved blisters, blood and fatigue to prevail over Victor Lai 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 in an epic 97-minute battle.

The preceding match on court has concluded. The unseeded pairing of Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan has beaten France's fifth seeds Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue to claim their maiden All England title! The Chinese Taipei duo wins in straight games (21-19, 21-18), giving their opponents no chance, and is elated with the historic conquest.

It's almost time! Lakshya Sen and Lin Chun-Yi have arrived at the scene and begun the customary pre-match knocking. Match about to begin in a couple of minutes.

You can see from the outset that Sen is not at his best, movement-wise. The cramps and blisters from last night have not entirely subsided perhaps and the Indian is drifting around the court gingerly by his standards. He trails 2-4 in Game 1.

Lakshya is getting into his stride now. He's still trailing but competing and moving a lot better. Lin holds a 17-13 lead in Game 1.

Sen is unable to keep pace in the backend of Game 1, which Lin pockets by a comfortable 21-15 margin. The Indian gets some treatment in his thighs for the cramps, desperate to somehow find another gear in Game 2.

It is almost painful to see a bruised Sen somehow competing at the big stage. He is far from his usual speedy self, and it's only by some brilliant wristwork and strokeplay that the world number 12 is keeping himself in the game. He takes a 3-2 lead in Game 2.

What a brilliant fight this is from Sen! He has wowed the crowd and commentators alike with his display despite all the physical constraints. The Indian is defending like a tiger and making Lin work for his points. After going into the break with an 11-8 lead, he currently is ahead 15-14 in the second game.

Heroic from Lakshya! After Lin seized the initiative to earn a match point, Sen smashes his way to deuce and keep the contest alive, as only he can.

It proves too tall a mountain to climb for Lakshya in the end. Despite all his efforts, the Indian is unable to push Lin further, as he clinches his second match point to finish it off at 21-15, 22-20. The Chinese Taipei player slumps to the ground in joy, and while Sen would be distraught, he can keep his head high with the way he performed, all through the tournament.

With that, we conclude our coverage of Lakshya Sen's glorious campaign at All England Open. We will be back with another badminton live blog soon. For now, enjoy India's blazing start against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final. Until next time, goodbye!