All England Badminton Quarter-Final Highlights: Lakshya Sen defeats Lee Zii Jia in three games to enter semis

Here's how the third Lakshya vs Lee game panned out 

Here's how the second Lakshya vs Lee game panned out

Here's how the first Lakshya vs Lee game panned out

When Lakshya Sen was going through his slump, the team around him were clear about one thing. That physically, he is in the best shape he has been for a while (since 2022 perhaps). But the results weren't showing.

“All our fitness tests indicate he’s in the best shape he has been in the last couple of years,”former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha, who has worked for a long time with Lakshya as part of OGQ, told the Indian Express in January. “I can’t fault his attitude and effort in training, he is a very disciplined guy. He has a very good team around him with a coach (Vimal Sir) and mentor (Prakash Sir) who have known him for so long, a full-time physio and nutritionist, a psychologist who has worked with him for a long time. What’s missing now are just the results, and that’s what is frustrating to all of us.”

Now that hard work is paying off. READ MORE

Neo Matrix slow mo leave from Sen to let Lee Zii Jia's push streak out, for the win

The Indian claims the decider 21-19! The Malaysian overhit his shot to give the Indian the victory. Lakshya moves out of the way of the shuttle and as soon as it sailed out, he falls on his back to celebrate! That got hairy at the end for the Indian. But he manages to enter the semis. 

An hour and 10 minute of intense badminton sees Lakshya prevail!!!

Can the Indian win this!!!!

Lee catches up with Lakshya at 19-19! What a comeback from him in the third game! 

Lee seems to be in some discomfort after hitting a smash in the previous point. His smash, the shot that caused him the problem was at 17-15. He calls for a physio with Lakshya leading 18-15.

After a brief stoppage, they are back. 

The Indian is five points away from a big win. He's leading 16-13 after a tiring battle against Lee. 

What a contest there for that point! Lakshya hits five full-blooded smashes to the backhand side of Lee, who somehow returns each one. Finally, it's a smash on the forehand side that does the trick. 

And then, Lee gifts Lakshya the lead at the mid-game interval by hitting his shot into the net without too much pressure from the other end! A mistake at the worst time! 

For the third time in a row in this match, lakshya leads at the mid-game break! 

Both players making plenty of mistakes now as the pressure starting to tell. Lakshya holds a 9-8 lead. 

Lee was leading in the decider when he made an unfortunate service error. Then, he smashed the shuttle which flew wide.

And then Laskhya grabbed his third point on the trot to zeize a 6-4 lead in the decider! 

One of the things Lakshya struggled with during his slump in form was how he had problems in the deciders. In Paris, there were signs that he was getting over it. And against Anders Antonsen yesterday he definitively showed that it's a thing of the past. Needs to start the third game well here and LZJ could well come under pressure if the Indian can push into an early lead.

Lakshya Sen's in-rally acceleration has been the difference. Not that he wasn't pushing pace in the first, but he completely crowded Lee Zii Jia with blitz returns not giving him the time for the expansive attack

16-all in the opening game, 16-all in the second game. This has been such a tight contest, so many momentum swings. Lakshya looks more likely to take this to the decider now.

(From Vinayakk)

The Indian pushes the Malaysian around and retakes the lead. to Lee's credit, he dives to his left and returns a smash from Lakshya, but the Indian stands at the net and hits the shuttle to the other end of the court. Lee dives, but in vain! Lakshya leads 17-16 with his tournament on the line here! 

After a 34-shot rally, where Lakhsya was the chief aggressor and the Malaysian just defended, Lee wins the point and edges ahead 15-14 in the second game. 

He then forces Lakshya to hit the bird out to take a 16-14 lead! This is startign to look ominous for the Indian. 

Lakshya held an 11-7 lead in Game 1. Then he went on to drop it. 

Once again, Lakshya leads at mid-game interval. This time, it's closer for Lee. Lakshya leads 11-9.  

For blog: Such contrast in the style of the jump smashes between these two. Lee Zii Jia's is the more conventional one, all calf, big jump, brute force. Then Lakshya's smash is more about the whip he gets from a shorter racket lift. Both a treat to watch when they connect.

Lakshya playing the flatter game in the second installment. He goes from 1-3 down to rattling off five points and leading 6-3. He then runs away to an 8-6 lead! 

It takes him 23 minutes of resolute badminton, but Lee finally prevails in the first game. He puts one foot into the semis with a 22-20 scoreline in the first game. 

What resolute defending from the Indian! He's clawed his way back from from 20-17 to 20-20! 

And now they will race for a lead of two clear points! 

What a comeback from the Malaysian! He's leading 20-17 in the first game. In the last point, the shuttle caught the line, but the line judge gave it wide! Lee challenged, and got the decision! 

For the first time in the opening game, Lee holds the lead! And what timing! With the finish line just four points away! 

Lee smashes cross court and the Indian goes sprawling as he tries to return! 

First game: Lakshya 17-16 Lee

At one point, Lakshya is caught on the wrong foot but recovers to retrive a shot from the Malaysian. Lee then hits the bird out as the Indian edges ahead 14-13. On the next point, Lakshya hits a full-blooded shot that catches the net cord nad topples over.

First game: Lakshya 15-13 Lee

OHHH, Lakshya sends his smash wide!!! 

String of mistakes from Lakshya helps the Malaysian catch up at 12-12 in the first game. 

The Indian does well to rally his way back into a handsome four-point lead at the mid-game interval in the first game.  

It takes him nine minutes to race away to an 11-7 lead in the first game. At the mid-game interval, his coach Vimal Kumar seems to have a lot ot say to him. Unlike at the French Open, the camera and the mic are far away from the players and their coaching entourages. So we cannot hear what's being said! 

The Malaysian has found his game and how! He rattles off a string of points to come within touching distance of Lakshya, who was running away with this first game not too long away. 

First game: Lakshya 8-7 Lee

The Indian is catching the Malaysian off guard with wll placed drops. Lee being caught out on the net again and again. 

First game: Lakshya 6-2 Lee

Fifth All England appearance for Lakshya today. And he's raced away to a 5-1 lead in the first game. 

As Lakshya Sen gets ready to face Lee Zii Jia, here's a piece from the India Open on the Malaysian star's approach to the new season and the pressures he has to deal with from the badminton-crazy country. 

READ MORE

The winner from this game between Lakshya and Lee takes on the winner of Jonatan Christie versus Shi Yu Qi. 

Lee Zii Jia has *ALWAYS* made it to the All England semi-final every time he has played here! 

2021 All England winner Lee vs 2022 All England finalist Lakshya. 

An unseeded affair between the Indian, who is ranked 18th in the world verus the World No 10 from Malaysia. 

When Lakshya Sen trailed 2-8 in the deciding third game in Birmingham on Thursday, there was a sense of deja vu. It was the same scoreline he was on a few days back in Paris.

Then, it was the semifinal against reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn at the French Open. Then, Lakshya couldn't arrest the slide as Vitidsarn ran away with it. Now, it was a second-round match against the red-hot Anders Antonsen at the All England Open, who hadn't lost a match on tour till last week.

Now, Lakshya could arrest the slide briefly to gather some control. Now, Lakshya Sen was able to turn it around late on for a stunning fightback to win 15 of the last 17 points.

How quickly things can change in sport. Lakshya overcame the fourth seed from Denmark 20-22, 21-13, 21-11 in a 78-minute thriller to reach the quarterfinals at the prestigious Super 1000 tournament. 

Read Vinayakk Mohanarangan's analysis of Lakshya Sen's escape into the quarter-finals. 

Hello and welcome to our liveblog of the All England quarter-finals where India's Lakshya Sen will be in action soon!