Canada Open: Sen beats Kenta Nishimoto in final, Sindhu loses to Yamaguchi in semis
Calgary. Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen stormed into the final of the Canada Open Super 500 badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto here. Sen beat the 11th-ranked Japanese 21-17 21-14 to reach his second Super 500 final. This will also be his first BWF final in a year. He was not in form at the start of the season, which saw him slip to No. 19 in the rankings. The 21-year-old had won a bronze medal in the 2021 World Championship. He will now face China’s Li Shi Feng in the final on Sunday, against whom he has a 4-2 head-to-head record.
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Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu was not at her best as she went down 14-21 15-21 to Japanese number one Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles semifinals. Sen last played in the final at the Commonwealth Games in August last year. He was trailing 0-4 early in the semifinals here but soon leveled at 8-8. Nishimoto was leading 11-10 at the break but soon the Indian came back with his favorite smashes and sharp returns to seal the game with his opponent’s long shots. In the second game, the two fought evenly but Sen’s alertness got the better of Nishimoto. At one point the scores were level at 2-2 and both were tied at 9-9. Sen took a two-point lead at the break. Sen led 19-11 after the break and the Indian won the match after Nishimoto hit the net again.
