Australian Open 2025 Badminton: Lakshya Sen beats Yushi Tanaka to clinch title

Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen eased past Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 21-15, 21-11 to clinch the Australian Open 2025 men’s singles title in Sydney on Sunday. This was the Indian’s first title of this calendar year.

Lakshya had needed more than 80 minutes to claim a win in the semifinal, but strolled past his opponent in the decider, finishing the affair in just 38 minutes. Lakshya becomes only the second Indian man to win a title at the Australian Open after Kidambi Srikanth in 2017.

This was the third Super 500 title for the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist after his Indian Open title in 2022 and Canada Open crown the next year.

Lakshya started the match relying on his net play. The two players exchanged deft returns close to the net, and Lakshya did just enough to go ahead 6-3 in the first game.

Tanaka pushed his returns deeper but Lakshya was able to match them and lead 11-9 at the mid-game interval. As he was forced deeper, Lakshya reverted to his power game, blasting multiple winners past the Japanese.

Consolidating on the momentum, Lakshya was comfortable throughout the second game and gained an 11-5 advantage. Tanaka was able to save one of the 10 match points that Lakshya had but had too much to cover in the end.

Published on Nov 23, 2025