India’s Lakshya Sen won his first medal at the badminton world junior championships in this third attempt as he lost to top seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the semi-finals in three games.
The 17-year-old Indian won a tight first game 22-20 but then went on to lose the next two 16-21 and 13-21, eventually conceding the match after an hour and 11 minutes.
Sen had beaten the 17-year-old Vitidsarn in straight games in the final of the Badminton Asia Junior Championships in July in Indonesia but could not replicate his feat on Saturday in Markham, Canada.
This is India’s only medal in this edition of the world juniors and the first one since Siril Verma won the silver in 2015. Sameer Verma, Sai Praneeth, HS Prannoy, and RMV Guru Sai Dutt have also won bronze in the last decade, while Saina Nehwal had clinched gold in 2008.
Vitidsarn, who is the defending champion, now has a chance to win his second straight world junior title. The Thai will take on Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the final. The Japanese beat third seed Li Shifeng of China 21-11, 19-21, 21-17 in the other semi-final.
Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that the last Indian to win a medal at the junior world championships before Sen was Sameer Verma. This has been corrected and the error is regretted.
