Junior world No 3 Lakshya Sen hardly broke a sweat as he beat second seed Abhishek Yelegar 21-10, 21-12 in the semi-finals of the Tata Open India International Challenge.

It hardly mattered to Sen that he was playing someone who was seven years his senior and in the world’s top 100, as he brought forward his best attacking game and did not allow Yelegar to get a sniff of a lead throughout.

Sen is the favourite to win the title on Sunday but he won’t have it easy against Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin, who is on a comeback trail after a two-year injury layoff.

Thammasin has already beaten the top seed Sourabh Verma in the pre-quarters and the 22-year-old is definitely not one to be taken lightly. This was even more evident after the Thai came back from a 15-20 deficit in the first game to beat Mithun Manjunath 22-20, 21-6 in Saturday’s other semi-final.

In the women’s draw, former national champion Ruthvika Shivani Gadde had it easy against Malaysia’s M Thinaah, beating her in straight games. The second semi-final between 17-year-old Ira Sharma and 19-year-old Riya Mukherjee – both trainees at SM Arif’s academy in Hyderabad – was a much more fiercely contested one.

Mukherjee was leading 19-14 in the first game before she allowed Sharma back into the match and level the score 20-20. The senior India No 5 won that game 24-22 but then completely collapsed in the second, losing it 11-21.

The third game was again a tightly contested affair, which saw two contentious line calls by the umpire towards the end, before Mukherjee emerged a 21-19 winner.

The women’s singles final will thereby be an all-Indian affair. Men’s doubles second seeds Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy failed to add to the Indian flair in the finals as they were ousted at the hands of Thailand’s Maneepong Jongjit and Nanthakarn Yordphaisong 21-14, 22-20.

Results:

Women’s singles:

Ruthvika Shivani Gadde beat M Thinaah 21-17, 21-9

Riya Mukherjee beat Ira Sharma 24-22, 11-21, 21-19

Men’s singles:

Sitthikom Thammasin beat Mithun Manjunath 22-20, 21-6

Lakshya Sen beat Abhishek Yelegar 21-10, 21-12

Women’s doubles:

Ng Tsz Yau and Yeung Nga Ting beat Fan Ka Yan and Wu Yi Ting 21-12, 21-9

Ng Wing Yung and Yuen Sin Ying beat Putri Sari Dewi Citra and Yujia Jin 21-15, 21-10

Men’s doubles:

Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh beat Chan Tsz Kit and Chang Tak Ching 10-21, 21-12, 21-10

Maneepong Jongjit and Nanthakarn Yordphaisong beat Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy 21-14, 22-20

Mixed doubles:

Hee Chun Mak and Yeung Nga Ting beat Pang Ron Hoo and Yen Wei Peck 21-12, 24-22

Chang Tak Ching and Ng Wing Yung beat Tang Jie Chen and Liu Ying Goh 21-16, 21-15