Asian junior champion Lakshya Sen on Friday gave up a commanding position in the Indonesia Masters quarter-final to lose to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Hsien in three games.
The 17-year-old Indian was two points away from victory, after winning the first game comfortably 21-12 and having a 19-14 lead in the second, before he capitulated. Lin won six points in a row from there to take a 20-14 lead, before closing out the game 22-20 to force a decider.
In the final game, Sen was leading 4-3 but then again conceded as many as seven points in a row to hand the world No 75 a healthy advantage. From 10-4, Lin was not going to lose the match, as he wrapped up the game 21-14 to seal his progress to the semi-finals.
Sen had beaten Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin, the world No 51 who had defeated him in the final of the Tata Open last year, in the round of 16 in straight games. Sen was the only Indian to reach the quarter-finals of the BWF World Tour Super 100-level tournament. Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli, Kartikey Gulshan Kumar, and K Ajay Kumar had exited early.