Lakshya Sen cruises into semifinals of World Junior Championship

Young Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen defeated Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin of Malaysia 21-8 21-18 to storm into the semifinals of the men's singles event of the BWF World Junior Championship here.

The world No 3 Lakshya opened strongly against his Malaysian rival and completed the quarterfinals tie in just 31 minutes. He surged ahead with a solid lead in the first game where his opponent was a mute spectator.

But in the second game, the Malaysian did well to keep abreast of Lakshya and was separated only by a few points. The Indian used his court craft and hitting to led throughout.

In the semifinals, Lakshya will take on the top-seeded Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, who disposed of Indonesian Alberto Alvin Yulianto 21-14 21-17.

"He is a very good player and I am aware of it. I will have to be on my feet to beat him. I am up for the challenge," Lakshya said.

However, the Indian pair of Vishnu Vardhan Panjala and Srikrishna Sai Podile could not progress any further as the duo went down to Koreans Tae Yang Shin and Chan Wang in the quarterfinals. The 10th-seeded Koreans won 21-11 21-8 in the men's doubles quarterfinals.

The Indian doubles pair was no match to the Koreans which worked in tandem and complimented each other with better display, especially at the net.