Calgary, July 8 (H.S.). Indian badminton players PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen have reached the semi-finals of the Canada Open 2023 BWF Super 500 event. Two-time Olympic medalist and former world champion Sindhu beat world No. 45 Gao Fang Jie of China 21-13, 21-7 in the quarter-finals on Friday night to enter her third semi-final of the year.

The top Indian shuttler made it to the final of the Spain Masters BWF Super 500 tournament in April but is yet to win a title this year. In the semi-finals, Sindhu will face her rival and defending world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

World No. 15 Sindhu leads 14-10 in their head-to-head battle with Yamaguchi but was beaten by Japanese shuttler Yamaguchi in the first round of the Singapore Open last month. On the other hand, world number 19 Lakshya Sen stormed into his second semi-final of 2023 with a 21-8, 17-21, 21-10 win over world number 62 Julien Caragi of Belgium.

The reigning Commonwealth Games men’s singles champion Sen will take on world number 11 Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto for a place in the final. Lakshya and Kenta have faced each other twice and both have won one match each. The 21-year-old Sen has played 12 tournaments this year but is yet to reach the final.