Lakshya Sen stormed into the men’s singles semifinals of the Australian Open Super 500 on Friday, outclassing fellow Indian Ayush Shetty in straight games at Sydney Olympic Park.

The seventh seed, who had also beaten the 20-year-old at the same stage of the Hong Kong Open earlier this year, prevailed 23–21, 21–11 to set up a semifinal clash with second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.

World No. 9 Chou, the 2018 Asian Games silver medallist, fought past Farhan Alwi 13–21, 23–21, 21–16 in a gruelling 1-hour-23-minute contest. Alwi had earlier stunned Indian veteran HS Prannoy in the round of 16.

Sen, 26, who reached the Hong Kong Open final earlier this year but is still searching for his first title of the season, faced stiff resistance from Shetty in the opening game. Trailing 6–9

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