India, May 2 -- Deafening roars greeted Lakshya Sen as he entered the Hi Tech Zone Sports Centre to take on home favourite Li Shifeng. With China 2-0 ahead, the partisan crowd had completely doused the noise the small Indian contingent was making with their trumpets and drums.

The roar grew even louder when the Li won the first game 21-13 to take hosts China within touching distance of a spot in the Thomas Cup semi-finals in Chengdu on Thursday. But Sen had other plans.

Noticing that Li was getting anxious, Sen brought out his defensive best to quell Li's attack, forcing the Asian Games champion to make several errors.

World No.13 Sen created brilliant angles in a game of willpower, determined to win longer rallies to counter Li's powe...