India’s Lakshya Sen scripted a remarkable comeback on Saturday to enter the men’s singles final of the Australian Open Super 500, defeating world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in a gripping three-game semifinal.

In an 86-minute semifinal, Lakshya—a bronze medallist at the 2021 World Championships—showed incredible mental toughness to overcome a setback in the first game and defeat the second seed 17-21, 24-22, 21-16.

The 24-year-old, who reached the Hong Kong Open final earlier this year but is yet to win a title this season, will face either Japan’s Yushi Tanaka or Chinese Taipei’s fifth seed Lin Chun-Yi in Sunday’s summit clash.

Patchy start, painful first game

Early on, Lakshya looked uncertain, while Chen was far more precise with his shot selection and execution, which allowed the Taiwanese to dominate the rallies. His steady play earned him an 11-6 lead at the mid-game interval.

Chen's aggressive backcourt attack paid off as he raced to 14-7. With a powerful smash to the deep corner, Lakshya momentarily stopped the run, but Chen quickly won back the serve with a brilliant cross-court winner. The Indian kept feeding shuttles into Chen’s hitting zone, and the Taiwanese repeatedly unleashed his power smashes.

A net error from Lakshya made it 19-13 before Chen, who had committed a few soft mistakes, steadied himself again. At 19-15, the two played a 44-shot rally that ended with Chen delivering a killing blow to earn five game points. Lakshya saved two, but then drove one into the net to concede the opener.

After the change of ends, both players took time to adjust, trading errors as the score moved from 2-2 to 4-4. Chen’s pinpoint attacks began clicking again as he pulled ahead 7-4. But Lakshya fought back superbly, levelling at 9-9 with Chen’s defence beginning to fray. The Taiwanese’s aggression softened, and his accuracy dipped as Lakshya applied pressure to take an 11-9 lead with a fine net shot.

Chen clawed back to 12-all after Lakshya pushed a smash wide. At 14-13, Lakshya showcased his defensive grit with a series of exceptional saves before finishing the point with a smash.

Chen won another attacking exchange and moved to 16-17 after Lakshya suffered an unfortunate net chord. The Taiwanese made it 17-all with a smash around the Indian’s hips and then edged ahead when Lakshya hit the net.

Lakshya sent one ballooning long and followed it with another mis-hit to hand Chen two match points.

But the Indian responded with a deep-corner winner, and Chen then hit the tape to make it 20-20. A tight net duel saw Chen claim his third match point, only to send the next shuttle long as the scores were levelled again.

Lakshya earned a game point with a smash that clipped the line. Chen saved it with a smash of his own, but the Indian grabbed a second opportunity with another brilliant winner and roared back into the match when Chen went long.

The 24-year-old Lakshya appeared more youthful than the 35-year-old Chen, whose movements became laboured and mistakes increased in the decisive match.

Lakshya raced to a 6-1 lead as Chen struggled for precision. Lakshya’s length improved, his net game turned sharper, and he read Chen far better.

Chen’s authority, which he had shown in the opening game, dissipated as Lakshya extended his lead to 10-5. He entered the interval 11-6 after Chen went long again.

The Indian increased the lead to 14-7. A service error from Chen pushed Lakshya to 17-9, and a crisp cross-court smash earned him eight match points. Chen saved four but eventually netted the shuttle, as Lakshya sealed an impressive revival win.