It is Li Shifeng with the lead at mid-game interval after Lakshya had made the better start. It's another from the Indian there as he sends a crosscourt clear long. Needs to cut these down, Lakshya.
Journalism of Courage
Lakshya Sen and Satwik-Chirag, Men’s Singles Hong Kong Open Badminton Final 2025 Highlights: Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty lose in the finals of Hong Kong Open Super 500 on Sunday. Sen went down in straight games against China’s Li Shi Feng 15-21, 12-21 in just 45 minutes. his was Lakshya’s first final since the Syed Modi Super 300 last November but his wait for a Super 500 title since 2023 Canada Open continued. Lakshya had earlier beaten world No 6 Chou Tien Chen in a thrilling straight-games semifinal that ended 23-21, 22-20 in the Indian’s favour. TThe match against Chou might have ended in straight games but it wasn’t straightforward, as the players provided a throwback to Paris 2024, where the Indian had won in three games, in another match filled with highlight-worthy rallies. In the final, Lakshya faces a familiar foe in Li Shi Feng for the 14th time in a rivalry that dates back to their junior days. Read more about Lakshya Sen’s win here.
Earlier in the day, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost in three games against China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the men’s doubles final. After winning the first game, Satwik-Chirag couldn’t continue the momentum as they lost 21-16, 14-21, 17-21. This was the 10th meeting between the two former world No 1 pairs, and Liang-Wang now lead the H2H 7-3. For Satwik-Chirag, this was the first final of 2025, breaking a streak of semifinals defeats. Read more about Satwik-Chirag’s semifinal performance here.
It is Li Shifeng with the lead at mid-game interval after Lakshya had made the better start. It's another from the Indian there as he sends a crosscourt clear long. Needs to cut these down, Lakshya.
Lakshya did so well to return a smash from his backhand side and then makes a soft crosscourt error at the net. That is a frustrating way to lose a point. All level at 10.
Both players have settled into a good rhythm early on, but it is Li who seems to be having the slight edge here as he catches up with Lakshya at 8-8. A terrific smash sets up a kill at the net. So alert to pounce, picking the shuttle off the top of the tape.
Oh superb defence from Lakshya as Li goes for the body attack again, this time the Indian manages to keep the shuttle in play and Li then sends his smash wide.
But Li comes back to make it 9-9 as Li once again takes the shuttle so close to the tape and kills a rally.
That is actually a very encouraging rally for LAkshya at 6-3 even though he lost the long exchange at the end. Three or four times Li went for that BIGGG smash of his, twice to the backhand side and once to the forehand, but Lakshya read it well on defence to keep the rally going. If he can neutralise that smash from Li, he is bound to have the best route to success.
A couple of soft errors from Lakshya after a good start, missing the sidelines when going inside out crosscourt.
Oh that is indeed a good start from Lakshya. Up 4-0 with some really good net play. And then comes Li to announce his arrival with a 450kph+ smash, that big weapon of his.
We are all set then. Lakshya comes into the match after three three-game matches earlier this week before his straight-games win on Saturday. He'd love to have a good start here.
Shivani Naik: Lakshya Sen has averaged 63 minutes per match this week, Li Shifeng is at 50
Lakshya Sen time. Class of 2018 reunion with Li Shi Feng. Four titles to China today so far, over to Lakshya to try and prevent a clean sweep.
Here's how Lakshya and Li got here.
At the end of Game 1, Lakshya Sen had his left arm up in the air. The shuttle had just kissed the top of the net cord, dangled there for a few milliseconds, before eventually dropping dead in front of Chou Tien Chen. If this had happened in a tennis match, that raised hand would have been an apology. But not so often in badminton. The players would tell you they train for these soft touches from close to the tape, because that takes skill too. And so Lakshya celebrated. It had, after all, been a sensational opening game that he had won 23-21.
At the end of Game 2, Lakshya had the shuttle kissing the net cord again, and it fell in his favour again. This time, he turned around, with a mix of relief and joy because he had just come back from three game points down at 17-20, winning five points in a row to complete 23-21, 22-20 win in 56 minutes against the Chinese Taipei veteran. It took Lakshya to his first final since the Syed Modi Super 300 last November. The match might have ended in straight games but it wasn’t straightforward, as the players provided a throwback to Paris 2024, where the Indian had won in three games, in another match filled with highlight-worthy rallies.
Ayush Shetty tried a lot of things, but he just couldn’t dislodge Lakshya Sen from his front court recon-tower that his senior had morphed into. In their first-ever international meeting at the Hong Kong Open Super 500, Ayush struggled to get the shuttle past what is Sen’s stomping personal turf – at the net. And he really couldn’t make his training buddy move around the court, losing 16-21, 21-17, 13-21 in the quarterfinals. Sen, a semifinalist from the Paris Olympics and World No 20, calmly showed why he remains India’s top player, having defeated both HS Prannoy and Ayush this week.
He then backed up with a superb performance against Chou Tien Chen.
For Lakshya Sen, it's been a tough old season. Just the one semifinal, recently at the Macau Open and plenty of early exits. But he seems to be turning a corner. The first-round exit against Shi Yu Qi at the Worlds was a good performance against the eventual champion. Can he now take it forward and clinch the title?
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Here's a look at Li Shi Feng's season. He has won one title in 2025 on the BWF World Tour, at the Malaysia Masters, where he defeated India's Srikanth Kidambi.
Satwik-Chirag finished as runners-up at theHong Kong Open 2025 after a hard-fought 62-minute final. The Indian duo started strong, taking the opening game 21-19, but sixth-seeded China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang bounced back to claim the next two games 21-14, 21-17 and secure the title.
Lakshya Sen vs Li Shi Feng will begin once the mixed doubles final is over (which seems imminent) and the prize distribution is complete.
After Lakshya Sen's first-round exit at the recently concluded BWF World Badminton Championship, where he lost to World No. 1 and eventual winner China's Shi Yuqi, it was evident the flamboyant Indian needed major shakeup to reboot his career.
Our badminton reporter, Shivani Naik, took a deep dive into what's wrong with Lakshya and what needs to be done in order to revive what appeared to be a fledgling career.
She writes:
Lakshya Sen is no clueless American named Emily, but he definitely is ‘on the precipice of the rest of his life’ after a second failed stab at a medal in Paris, like the web series noted. That is to say, a major shakeup is necessary if Sen doesn’t want to dawdle away a very promising career, waiting for medals to happen.
Paris may or might not be the best place for singles. But don’t try playing singles at a Badminton World Championships, with a doubles coach, who might not have the pin-point advice that can yank you out of a defensive quagmire, no matter how spectacular that diving retrieving looks....
Road to the final for Lakshya Sen.
He started his Hong Kong Open Super 500 tournament campaign with a win over Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu-wei. Then the beat compatriot HS Prannoy and Ayush Shetty in pre-quarters and quarterfinals before taking care of the 3rd seed Chou Tien Chen in the semifinal.
Lakshya Sen will be going for the men's singles title at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 when he takes China's Li Shi Feng. Lakshya beat world No 6 Chou Tien Chen in a thrilling straight-games win that ended 23-21, 22-20 in the Indian's favour. This is Lakshya's first final since the Syed Modi Super 300 last November. The match against Chou might have ended in straight games but it wasn’t straightforward, as the players provided a throwback to Paris 2024, where the Indian had won in three games, in another match filled with highlight-worthy rallies. In the final, Lakshya faces a familiar foe in Li Shi Feng for the 14th time in a rivalry that dates back to their junior days.
The men's singles final is the last match of the day, and is likely to start around 4 pm.
Stay tuned.
Once again, Satwik-Chirag vs Liang-Wang deliver the thrills. A super finish to the match, Satwik-Chirag will once more rue the start they made to the decider, just like in Paris. A long wait over for Liang-Wang too. Fun match.
Shivani Naik: What's with medals around the world? Not chunky as before. This HK one has a glass core with something engraved.
Screengrab: JioHotstar
Shivani Naik: First Super 500 final loss for Satwik-Chirag. H2H 7-3 to the Chinese. Indians still waiting for their title (since Thailand). But the Chinese reaction showed how much it meant to them.
That's the thing. Liang - Wang and Chia-Soh are absolutely elite pairs. To have beaten them both at Worlds, puts the bronze into perspective. It's a very stacked Top Ten in men's doubles out there. Very tough set of players.
Shivani Naik snuck in a "or can they? :)" after her previous update, but unfortunately, we know the answer now is no.
Satwik-Chirag's wait for a title since Thailand Open last may continues, but they are getting there.
LIANG-WANG WIN!
Satwik's flat push goes long and the Chinese pair fall on their backs...
Wow. Three match points saved.
Shivani Naik on that crazy racket change rally: Should Satwik have let it go on the flanks? He's one of the best judges of shuttle trajectories on the lines. So maybe he did fine to return it. But cruel point there, as Weikeng changes racquet midpoint but still returns to win point. Scores are wretched, but Indians haven't played as badly. But there's no returning from that early lead for Chinese. And Weikeng absolutely frenzied. 16-20 to Chinese
Two match points saved. Is there a late twist in the tale?
Six match points for Liang and Wang.
Wow! Liang Weikeng has gone through quite a few rackets from his kit today but this one is in the middle of a rally as he goes for a switch. Wang does superbly to keep the rally alive and the Chinese pair win the point.
The Indians have won four points in a row now but surely too little too late.
Shivani Naik: The decider started with an outrageous flick serve down the middle from Weikeng. And the Chinese continue to attack in that mid channel, with straight tumble serves and even rally returns bissecting the Indians
The good old tumble serve from Liang is causing problems once more.
Satwik gets the serve back with a slightly mishit smash and this is now last-chance territory for the Indians.
The Indians a handful of points in one go to make a match out of it but the Chinese pair, especially Liang, is just not letting them breathe easy at the moment with his big hitting.
Oh delightful service return from Satwik, the shuttle brushing the net. The doubles players do practice this quite a bit.
And again, the Indians unable to put together any streak as Wang goes big with his smash to retake the serve.
Shivani Naik: Trust Hong Kong to play the most aggressive symphonies in breaks. The sorts used in Nolan, Tarantino climaxes. Liang Weikeng is unleashing some racquet violence out there
Why Ashwini Ponnappa believes ‘ambitious’ Satwik-Chirag can beat Malaysia’s Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik again and push Koreans Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho
She rarely or never mentions the significance of it, but Ashwini Ponnappa was right there when India kickstarted the habit of winning medals at World Championships. In 2011, she began the streak with Jwala Gutta, and then went on to be an all-weather well-wisher and true-blue teammate to a pair that has been the biggest doubles story of the last decade – Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
“They have risen above the challenges of the past year. We are rooting for them to do even better,” she says with granite-solid loyalty that stems from closely watching your people struggle and then beat back the odds.
