Young Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Kiran George will take each other on in the semi-final of the SaarLorLux Open on Saturday after coming through their respective quarter-final matches in straight games.
Sen, seeded eighth in the tournament, needed just 29 minutes to win his quarter-final match in Saarbrucken against Germany’s Max Weisskirchen. The Youth Olympic Games silver medallist breezed through 21-13, 21-16 in 29 minutes.
Sen’s compatriot George needed only 10 minutes more in an earlier match. The 19-year-old booked his place in the last four with a 21-14, 23-21 win against Christo Popov of France.
George, ranked 156 in the world, is yet to drop a game at the Super 100 tournament and will be confident of causing an upset when he takes on Sen. George has already accounted for a seeded player, when he ousted sixth seed Toma Junior Popov in the second round.
World No 51 Sen, meanwhile, continues to impress on the senior circuit. The 18-year-old is looking to clinch back-to-back Super 100 titles after his Dutch Open win earlier in October. If he indeed goes all the way, it will be a hat-trick of titles as his previous two tournaments (Dutch Open Super 100 and Belgian International Challenge) saw him emerge victorious as well.
The semi-final in Saarbrucken on Saturday will be the fifth meeting between George and Sen in the international arena, with the latter winning all four previous matches.
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