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Lakshya Sen scripts history with second All England final appearance | Badminton News

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Lakshya Sen scripts history with second All England final appearance
India’s Lakshya Sen (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Lakshya Sen delivered a gritty performance to book his place in the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships, becoming only the second Indian shuttler to reach the title clash twice after defeating Canada’s Victor Lai in a demanding semifinal on Saturday. The 24 year old, who had previously reached the final in 2022, battled both a determined opponent and painful blisters on his right toe to seal a 21-16, 18-21, 21-15 victory in a contest that lasted one hour and 37 minutes. Sen’s achievement puts him in rare company alongside his mentor Prakash Padukone. The legendary Indian had reached the final in 1980 and 1981, famously winning the title in his first appearance in the championship match. Saturday’s semifinal turned into a test of stamina and resilience for both players. Sen and Lai were involved in several exhausting rallies, some stretching beyond 50 shots, as neither competitor was willing to give ground. The opening game remained closely contested until the score stood at 17-16 in Sen’s favour. The Indian then shifted gears, reeling off four consecutive points to take the first game. Lai responded strongly in the second game. The Canadian, who holds the distinction of being the first player from Canada to win a medal at the BWF World Championships, moved ahead 11-7 at the mid game interval and maintained his advantage despite Sen drawing level at 16-16 while dealing with blisters. Lai eventually forced the match into a deciding game. In the final game, Sen’s experience began to show. Mixing patience with calculated attacking shots, he built a healthy 15-9 lead. Lai continued to fight back and reduced the deficit to 17-15, but Sen finished strongly, claiming four points in a row to seal his place in the final. In the championship match, Sen will face Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei. The left handed shuttler, who recently won the India Open, advanced to the final after defeating Thailand’s second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-14, 18-21, 21-16 in a semifinal that lasted one hour and 18 minutes.

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Three share 2-shot lead entering final round in Hong Kong

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Golf: LIV Golf Michigan Team ChampionshipAug 24, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Jon Rahm of Legion XIII plays his shot from the fifth tee during the finals of the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship at The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Spain’s Jon Rahm, Harold Varner III and Belgium’s Thomas Detry are tied for the lead at 17-under entering Sunday’s final round at LIV Golf Hong Kong.

Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and 36-hole co-leaders Dean Burmester of South Africa and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico are two shots behind following Saturday’s third round at Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling.

Pieters shot the day’s low round of 61 to move into contention.

Rahm, who is looking for his first LIV Golf individual victory since 2024, carded a 5-under 65.

“You have to keep putting yourself in contention and giving yourself chances,” said Rahm, who has started the 2026 season with consecutive runner-up finishes. “As long as I’m doing that, I’m playing good golf, take advantage of the opportunities I get, but it’ll come. As I’m playing solid golf, I’m hoping tomorrow I have a good Sunday and get it done.”

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Detry, who posted a 4-under 66 on Saturday, is trying to beat the man who helped him get to the tournament.

Detry was one of seven LIV Golf players who were stranded in the United Arab Emirates after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks last weekend against Iran. Rahm helped to arrange a charter flight to get them all to Hong Kong.

“Well, if it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I’d be here,” Detry said. “It’s a little bit funny that way. But listen, we’re both competitors, and he’s done it for his teammates. He’s done it for the league. It’s amazing what he did, and he’s a good friend of mine, as well. We’ve played a lot of golf as juniors and on the PGA Tour and everywhere together and out here now. I think we’re just going to have a nice competitive fun round tomorrow, and we’ll see who prevails.”

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Varner joined Rahm and Detry at the top of the leaderboard with a 7-under 63.

Ortiz and Burmester both posted rounds of 1-under 69, much to Burmester’s dismay.

“I’m gutted,” Burmester said after the round. “I don’t feel like I did too much wrong, honestly. Maybe tried a little too hard. I don’t know. I hit some amazing golf shots out there. I hit some poor ones, probably on the wrong holes. Hit some great shots. I went bogey-free. Just didn’t make any putts. Got to find a way to lift myself up tomorrow and give it a go.”

In the team competition, Smash GC holds a two-stroke lead over 4Aces GC with Rahm’s Legion XIII three shots behind the leaders.

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–Field Level Media

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Rory McIlroy withdraws from Arnold Palmer with back injury

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Rory McIlroy withdraws from 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational with back injury

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Rory McIlroy withdrew from the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational just before the start of his third round on Saturday. McIlroy, who shot a 4-under 68 on Friday to move himself into the top 10 of the leaderboard, cited a back injury as the reason for his departure.

After arriving at the course for his preround warmup on Saturday, McIlroy felt discomfort in his back while trying to loosen up on the range. He withdrew about half an hour before his 12:55 p.m. ET tee time. 

“While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back,” McIlroy said in a statement. “As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back. Unfortunately, I’m not able to continue and have to withdraw. I was excited to compete this weekend. I wish the Arnold Palmer Invitational a great finish and look forward to being back next year.”

The world No. 2 told Golf Channel that he potentially could have played through the injury, but with big tournaments like The Players next week and the Masters in a month — McIlroy is the reigning champion at both tournaments — he felt the “risk wasn’t worth the reward” to play through spasms. Instead, he opted for rest and treatment so he can attempt to be ready for TPC Sawgrass next week. 

This marks the first time in 13 years that McIlroy has withdrawn during an event, last happening at the 2013 Honda Classic.

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Any time a golfer deals with back pain or discomfort, there is always an elevated concern. Considering McIlroy was trailing by nine shots entering Saturday’s third round, the career grand slam winner clearly felt it wasn’t worth trying to push through and potentially worsen his injury.

McIlroy was already planning to take Monday off and arrive at The Players on Tuesday with his pre-tournament press conference scheduled for 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

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England boss Sarina Wiegman satisfied despite wanting more goals against Iceland

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Sarina Wiegman admits England wanted to score more but was satisfied with the 2-0 victory over Iceland which made it back-to-back wins to start their Women’s World Cup qualification campaign.

Lucy Bronze celebrated going third in the all-time Lionesses appearance rankings with her 145th cap by nodding in the opener in a first half which was heavily dominated by the hosts at the City Ground.

Hannah Hampton stopped Sandra Jessen from equalising with Iceland’s only shot of the game on the hour mark before Georgia Stanway volleyed in the second 12 minutes from time to make the points safe.

The Lionesses scored six against Ukraine four days ago in their opening qualifier and England boss Wiegman says she was happy with the camp overall.

She said: “I’m totally not frustrated at the moment, happy with the performance and camp. Two games, six points. I think Iceland is a very disciplined team, lots of power, compact, and very hard to break down.

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“We created lots of big chances with very good football. We could’ve scored more, we obviously want that too but the most important thing is we win the game.

“Hannah made a great save which was crucial then we scored. We want to score more goals but the win and clean sheet makes me happy.

“We hope we gave everyone a great afternoon and we entertained them (the fans).

“Overall, I’m happy with the camp. It helps when you get the six points. The team worked really hard on the pitch improving as a team and as individuals.”

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Bronze moved above Karen Carney in the all-time appearance list for England Women and now only has Jill Scott and Fara Williams above her.

Wiegman said of the 34-year-old Bronze: “She’s an incredible human being, her mindset is incredible.

“She has so much football intelligence, at the same time she’s helping her team-mates on the pitch and off the pitch which makes the team play better which is really important.

“She plays a big role in the team. She wants to make the World Cup and as you can see she’s still building minutes. She’s so important because her connection with players and staff is just so good. I hope she keeps moving forward.”

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Lauren James proved to be a menace all afternoon down the left for the Iceland defence and got the reward for her performance with a first-half assist.

“First of all, very pleased for her,” Wiegman said. “It looks like she’s enjoying herself and brings us joy too.

“For club and country I hope she can keep doing that and get some consistency because that gives us a lot more joy.

“We all want Lauren to stay fit, build and get consistency in playing minutes. We saw her today at her best.”

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Russell Wilson’s ex-teammate blasts Logan Paul for “moving the goalpost” over boxing challenge

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Russell Wilson and Breiden Fehoko shared a roster in 2024. Now, the defensive tackle is looking to share a ring with Logan Paul. In a move ripped straight out of “Rocky,” Paul announced a $1 million open bet to any NFL players willing to fight. However, he claimed that “no one” wanted to fight out of the spotlight but still set the venue to be his gym.

Fehoko responded to the post with knives, calling out the fighter on X in a Friday response.

“You put up a challenge, now you moving the goalposts,” he posted. “I’ll whoop your a** in a church parking lot. I don’t even want your money no more stop ducking smoke. I’ll fly out on my own dime to fight you or your clown a** brother. Let’s see how strong that jaw is.”

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Of course, as with any pre-fight build-up, there is always a question of whether the beef is real. In this case, if a fight with no spotlight goes down, it will be clear that the beef was real. However, if the fight makes its way into any kind of spotlight, questions will be asked.

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Read More: 3 Reasons why Logan Paul unmasked the Mystery Attacker on WWE SmackDown

Read More: Antonio Brown uses Logan Paul’s “girls” to take shot at WWE star for challenging NFL players to $1,000,000 boxing match

Logan Paul and Le’Veon Bell respond to Breiden Fehoko’s challenge

Logan Paul speaks into a microphone - Monday Night RAW - Source: GettyLogan Paul speaks into a microphone - Monday Night RAW - Source: Getty
Logan Paul speaks into a microphone – Monday Night RAW – Source: Getty

Breiden Fehoko’s response didn’t take long to cause a reaction. Le’Veon Bell, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2013 to 2017, floated a “2v2” idea that seemingly would pit the brothers against Bell and Fehoko.

“lol let’s go 2v2 them boys 😭,” Bell responded.

Bell has been fighting in his post-NFL life, but the tone of his post suggested he might have been joking. Paul was seemingly much more serious with his response.

“Wait so are you down or not bc it sounds like you don’t have the money. I’ll send you same contract as Le’Veon if you’re in for next weekend,” Paul posted.

The Pittsburgh Steelers pass rusher did not respond to Paul in a comment but instead in a quote post for all to see.

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“Send it f*** boy,” Fehoko posted.

Of course, with things reaching a new level in the brewing conflict, it could have an effect on his future in the NFL.

Fehoko is set to hit free agency this week after a voided 2025 contract with Pittsburgh, per Spotrac. If he’s publicly picking fights in another athletic setting, it could seal the deal on his exit from the NFL.