All England Open 2022: Lakshya Sen, Treesa-Gayatri pair reach semifinal; Satwik-Chirag pair crash out

Birmingham, March 18: World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen advanced to the men's singles semifinals of the All England Open Championships 2022 after his opponent Lu Guang Zu of China gave a walkover in Birmingham on Friday (March 18).

The 20-year-old has been at the top of his game having secured his maiden Super 500 title at India Open in January followed by a runners-up finish at the German Open last week.

Lakshya will face the winner of the quarterfinal match between Malaysia's sixth seed Lee Zii Jia and Japan's second seed Kento Momota in the last four round.

Sen had stunned world no 3 and two-time medallist at World Championships Anders Antonsen of Denmark 21-16 21-18 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals.

The Indian had defeated world no 1 and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark on his way to his maiden Super 300 final last week.

All England Open 2022: Schedule, Indians in Action, Previous Indian winners and Live Streaming Information

Also reaching the semifinal on Friday (March 18), was women's doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, who came from a game down to stun second-seeded South Korean pair Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan.

Jolly and Gayatri became the first Indian doubles pair to reach the semifinals of the prestigous All England Open following a 14-21, 22-20, 21-15 in a quarterfinal match that lasted for an hour and 7 minutes to reach the last 4 match.

The duo will now face Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu, who ousted eighth-seeded Thailand pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai in a match that went into the decider.

While two Indian interests progressed, it was curtains for fifth seeded Indian pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.

The top Indian men's doubles pair failed to cross the quarterfinal hurdle losing 22-24 17-21 to Indonesian top seed Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in 47 minutes.

Earlier on Thursday (March 17), top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the second round of the tournament.

While sixth-seeed Sindhu lost to Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in a thriller by 21-19, 16-21, 21-17, Nehwal was defeated by Japan's world number two and second seed Akane Yamaguchi 21-14, 17-21, 21-17.

Srikanth, meanwhile, suffered a defeat to Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting despite storming through the first game, but in the lost 21-9, 18-21, 19-21.

(With inputs from Agencies)