Birmingham, Mar 19 (IANS): World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen reached the final of the 2022 All England Open Badminton Championships after beating Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 21-13, 12-21, 21-19 in the semi-finals, here on Saturday.

Sen opened up an 11-7 lead at the interval in the first game in a battle between two top shuttlers. The Indian was solid and defended brilliantly Lee's attack and took the opening game 21-13.

However, the Malaysian made a strong comeback and hit a string of sensational winners to claim the second game. In the decider, Lakshya Sen put up a phenomenal fight, didn't give up and eventually won it 21-19.

With this win, Sen became the fifth Indian shuttler to reach the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships.

The 20-year-old from Almora, who had a great start to 2022 by winning the India Open and reaching the final of the German Open last week, had earlier got a walkover from his opponent world No 27 Lu Guang Zu of China in the quarter-finals.

The young Indian shuttler is in great form, having beaten world champion Loh Kean Yew and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in recent weeks.

Only two Indians -- Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand -- have won the prestigious title.