SYDNEY, 21 November (H.S.): India's star shuttler Lakshya Sen delivered a commanding performance at the Australian Open Super 500 tournament on Friday, decisively defeating compatriot Ayush Shetty in straight games to secure his spot in the men's singles semi-finals.In a compelling all-Indian quarter-final clash, the seventh-seeded Sen overcame Shetty with a scoreline of 23-21, 21-11.

The first game was a tightly contested affair, with Shetty mounting a formidable challenge. Sen found himself trailing 6-9 before staging a comeback with four consecutive points to take a 13-10 lead. The game saw several momentum shifts, with Shetty saving game points to level the score at 21-21, but Sen held his nerve to clinch the crucial final points.

The second game, however, was a one-sided display of dominance from Sen. He established an early 6-1 lead, which he later extended to 15-7, effectively neutralizing Shetty's challenge. The entire encounter concluded in 53 minutes, underscoring Sen's control in the latter half of the match. In the semi-finals, Sen is set to face the second seed, Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.

Chen, the world No. 9 and a 2018 Asian Games silver medalist, advanced to the final four after a hard-fought victory over Farhan Alvi, the same player who had earlier caused a major upset by defeating Indian stalwart H.S. Prannoy.

With the early exits of Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth on Thursday, Lakshya Sen remains India's sole contender in the men's singles draw. Meanwhile, in the men's doubles, India's top-seeded pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are also vying for a semi-final berth. They are scheduled to face the fifth-seeded Indonesian duo, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, in their quarter-final match.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar