Asian junior badminton: Lakshya Rajesh in semis along with four Indians

Lakshya Rajesh stunned top seed Lalita Sattayathadakoon and led the march of five Indians into the semifinals of the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Championships here.

The highlight of the day came from Lakshya, who produced a spirited fightback to upset top seed Lalita of Thailand 11-21, 21-16, 21-19 in the U-17 girls’ singles quarterfinals.

Joining Lakshya in the last four is sixth seed Diksha Sudhakar, who powered past Indonesia’s Raisya Affatunisa 21-17, 21-8 in another commanding display.

In the boys’ singles, Jagsher Singh Khangurra continued his fine form with a straight-game victory over Zhan Shing Yui of Hong Kong China, winning 21-13, 21-14.

In doubles, India’s Jangjeet Singh Kajla and Jananika Ramesh advanced to the U-17 mixed doubles semifinals following the retirement of their Chinese opponents.

Earlier, top-seeded Shaina Manimuthu eased into the U-15 girls’ singles semifinals with a 21-14, 21-16 win over Japan’s Yubuki Azumaya.