Thomas Cup Quarterfinals: Lakshya Sen's heroic comeback stuns Chou Tien Chen as India gain early lead over Chinese Taipei

Lakshya Sen produced a stirring comeback, saving two match points to outwit world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen in a gruelling opening singles, giving India a 1-0 lead over Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup Finals here on Friday.

Lakshya, who trailed for large parts of the contest, showed remarkable resilience to script an 18-21, 22-20, 21-17 victory in a marathon clash lasting one hour and 28 minutes.

With the head-to-head locked at 4-4 prior to this contest, the two engaged in another absorbing duel marked by long rallies, precise strokeplay and intense momentum swings.

Chou displayed his experience in the opening game, recovering from 10-15 down and overturning a late deficit to take the lead.

Lakshya, however, responded under pressure in the second game. Trailing 13-17, the Indian reeled off four straight points to draw level. Chou earned two match points, but Lakshya held his nerve, saving both before closing out the game to force a decider.

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The 36-year-old Chou appeared to fade physically in the third game as Lakshya seized control with an 11-7 lead at the interval and maintained his composure to seal the contest.

India will look to extend the advantage when the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty face Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin next.

In the remaining matches, Ayush Shetty will take on world No. 8 Lin Chun-Yi, the duo of Hariharan Amsakarunan and M.R. Arjun will meet Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po-Hsuan, while Kidambi Srikanth will face world No. 21 Chi Yu Jen.