Lakshya Sen Vs Victor Lai Highlights, All England Open: Indian Braves Injury, Wins Epic Battle To Enter Final

Hello, we’re back with another live blog: Lakshya Sen vs Victor Lai, All England Open 2026 Semi-Final. Stay tuned for live updates.

One can catch the live streaming of Lakshya Sen's All England Open Badminton Championships 2026 semi-final on the Hotstar app and website in India. The match will be telecast on the Star Sports Network in India.

Lin Chun-Yi has already booked a spot in the final, and Lakshya Sen will have to join him there to keep the title dream alive. The young Taiwanese shuttler is all pace and power, but dismantling the technically brilliant former world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn required more than just speed.

Chun-Yi mixes agility with clever southpaw shots, making him a tricky opponent. First, though, Sen must get past Victor Lai.

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. He then got the better of China's sixth-seeded Li Shifeng by a 21-13, 21-16 margin to storm into the last four.

Not too long now for Lakshya Sen's semi-final. The preceding mixed doubles semi-final match on court is about to end, and the Indian will stride out shortly alongside Canada's Victor Lai. Sen was pictured warming up minutes ago.

Out comes Sen to raucous cheers from the crowd, and Victor follows suit. There's no dearth of support in Birmingham for the Indian, and he would look to make the most of it. After the customary pre-match knocking, the match gets underway.

Despite a spectacular retrieve and some sparkling play in a lengthy rally of 35 shots, Lakshya loses the fifth point. He then rebounds with an opportunistic smash to draw level at 3-3 in the first game.

It has been neck and neck in the early exchanges. Lakshya looking assured, but the talented Victor Lai keeping in touch with structured defence and timely offence. Sen leads 7-6.

Victor Lai claws his way back from 7-10 down to level at 10-10 in the first game. The world number 16 is giving Lakshya Sen a lot to think about, even as the Indian takes the next point emphatically to go into the mid-game interval with a slender lead.

More cat-and-mouse stuff from the two players upon resumption. The 21-year-old takes the lead for once at 13-14 but Sen equalises immediately, with Victor's challenge proving unsuccessful. The first game is going down to the wire!

Another extended rally, and Sen prevails this time to take a crucial 18-16 lead in the business end of the first game. He follows it up with sound judgment to leave one at the backline, and moves two points away from pocketing the game.

Lakshya closes it out promptly! He converts his first game point, clinching four points on the bounce to take the game 21-16 and go ahead in this intense encounter. The opening game lasted 26 minutes, and the next one is unlikely to be any less gruelling.

After a short breather for the players, the action resumes with the second game. Lakshya misses the angle on the forehand on the third point, but makes amends with the next one to draw level at 2-2.

Sen approaches the chair umpire for a quick break to open his shoe, for there's a blister in his foot. The umpire agrees and Lakshya carefully re-opens and arranges the taping on his foot. He returns to the court soon and hits lovely cross-court shot to make it 4-5.

Victor Lai surges ahead to 9-5 in the second game, not letting Lakshya take easy winners and inducing errors from him. The Indian does well to cut the deficit down to 7-9.

The Canadian rebuilds a four-point lead to go into the mid-game interval ahead at 11-7. Lakshya is not out of the second game by any stretch of imagination, but needs to arrest the deficit before it goes out of his reach.

Sen fighting back! He claims the first three points after the mid-game interval to make the scoreline 10-11 in the second game.

The see-saw nature of the match continues. An extraordinary rally ensues at 10-12, featuring 67 shots and Victor takes the point to surge to a 13-10 lead. Lakshya is staying abreast in the second game, but just about.

Another outstanding rally! Victor displays incredible athleticism to retrieve multiple smashes from Sen that appeared destined to become winners. Eventually, after 44 shots, the Canadian blinks and Sen keeps the scoreline at 13-15.

Lakshya exhibits the strong fighting spirit that he has been come to known for, to bring the second game back level at 16-16. But he follows that up with a rare service fault and a lost rally to trail by two points again.

Lakshya launches a fierce inside out smash to subdue Victor, but then misses a short-hand smash at the net. Two game points for the Canadian at 20-18.

Victor takes his first game point to issue a sizzling rejoinder. He takes Game 2 by a 21-18 margin to force a decider. Lakshya, perhaps struggling with the blister in his foot, will need to grit it out again in the deciding Game 3.

Sen makes an upbeat start to the decider with a 4-2 lead. The Canadian suffers an injury scare at that juncture, but thankfully is able to return to the court.

Lakshya Sen inching ahead in this tug-of-war as he takes an 8-5 lead in the third and final game. Can the Indian consolidate on this advantage?

Four-point lead at the interval! Sen turns the tables on Victor, going into the break with the same scoreline that Victor had garnered at the mid-point of Game 2. Now, for the world number 12 to hold firm and claim 10 more points.

Oh, no. A concerning visual appears for the Indian fans as Sen hobbles at 11-8. He is clearly struggling with the blister(s) and is sternly told by the umpire to "retire or play". Play the Indian does, and decides to go for faster winners and shorter rallies. He succeeds with a couple, taking his lead to 14-9.

The battle intensifies. Both players are nursing injuries, and the Canadian looking to move Sen around and stretch rallies longer. The Indian is managing somehow and firing sizzling smashes in between. He leads 16-12.

Victor capitalizing on Sen's clear discomfort to cut down the deficit. He makes the scoreline 15-17 before the man from Almora responds and restores a three-point cushion.

Five match points for Sen!

He has done it! Lakshya Sen sends a sharp forehand put-away past Victor at 20-15 to take his first of five match points. The Indian section of the crowd roars in delight and after one hour and 37 minutes, the Indian emerges as the gladiator who conquers injury and fatigue to storm into the final.

With the 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 win over Victor Lai, Sen enters his second All England Open final. He had finished runner up in 2022 and is looking to go all the way this time. The 24-year-old faces Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi in the title round on Sunday. Lin defeated second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-14, 18-21, 21-16 in the first semi-final, earlier today.