Lakshya Sen wins Canada Open 2023, beats reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng in straight games

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen defeated reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng to win the men’s singles title at the Canada Open 2023. Lakshya secured a confident straight games win over the world no. 10, defeating him 21-18, 22-20.

The victory marks Lakshya’s second BWF World Tour title, having already won the India Open in January 2022.

Lakshya currently ranked 19 defeated world no. four Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the Round of 32.

He then secured a commanding win over Japan’s Kento Nishimoto, world number 11, in the semifinal to enter his second Super 500 final and first BWF summit clash in over a year. Lakshya had won the match 21-17 21-14.

Lakshya had undergone a nose surgery for a deviated septum after the World Championships last August and took a lot of time to recover post treatment. His last final appearance was at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August last year.

After a series of early exits from tournaments, he showed signs of recovery when he reached the semifinals of the Thailand Open.

Meanwhile, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu failed to book a finale ticket after losing 14-21 15-21 to world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in her women’s singles semifinal.