Lakshya crashes out in semifinals of China Masters

Promising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen fought valiantly before crashing out of the China Masters after suffering a three-game defeat in the men's singles semifinals here Saturday.

Lakshya, looked upon as the next big thing in Indian men's badminton, fought tooth and nail for one hour and two minutes before losing 9-21 21-12 17-21 against China's Weng Hongyang.

Hongyang will play compatriot Liu Haichao in the final on Sunday.

Haichao got the better of Malaysia's Iskandar Zulkarnain 21-9 20-22 21-16 in another engrossing semifinal contest.