India Open Badminton: Lakshya Sen Enters Maiden BWF World Tour Super 500 Final

The 20-year-old from Almora, who had joined his mentor Prakash Padukone and B Sai Praneeth as a medallist at the World Championships last month, notched up a 19-21 21-16 21-12 win over the world number 60 Yong in a thrilling semifinal clash.

Third seed Sen, ranked 17 in the world, will face world champion, Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the summit clash on Sunday in a repeat of the Dutch Open final last year.

Loh, seeded fifth, was given a walkover in the semifinals by Canada's Brian Yang after developing a sore throat and headache.

Sen will be itching to set the record straight after losing the Dutch Open final to Loh. Overall, the duo has a 2-2 head-to-head record with Sen losing two of the last three meetings.

Sen had won two Super 100 titles -- Dutch Open and SaarLorLux Open -- besides three international challenge at Belgium, Scotland and Bangladesh in 2019 before COVID-19 somewhat halted his progress.

Last year, the youngster made it to the semifinals at Hylo, reached the knockout stage at World Tour Finals on debut before sizzling at the World Championships with a bronze.