In a title match on home turf, slows down and minimizes errors to defeat World Champion Loh.
Lakshya Sen defeated Singaporean Loh Kean Yew and the enticing instinct to emulate the world champion’s showboating when he won the India Open Super 500 at IG Stadium on Sunday.
The desire to compete in a ‘who’s faster, who’s hitting harder’ match between two men in their early twenties, both equipped with an energetic attack, could have drawn the Almora man into danger at critical moments. Sen, on the other hand, showed maturity and control, placing the world champion, who was only anointed last month, in the shade. Sen, a bronze medalist in the world championships, became the first opponent to win on his debut at the Delhi tournament.
Sen acknowledged after the victory that he was nervous. “It’s good to win,” says the winner. Finally, I was a little nervous about winning. “However, I’m pleased with the victory,” he said.
Sen was pushed to the limit in both the semi-finals and the finals. Sen is the most anticipated main act in Indian badminton in 2022, thanks to his confidence and momentum in pressure circumstances.
The victory, which came on the same day that Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, 22, and Chirag Shetty, 25, defeated Indonesia’s thrice World Champions Hendra Setiawan and Mohamad Ahsan, was proof that the age of the well-trained Indian men’s badminton player, who is not a one-off like Prakash Padukone and P Gopichand, had arrived.
Sen has been guided into the most purple of patches on the world circuit by regular one-on-one chats with Padukone.
Sen is a fascinating case study in Indian athletics. Sen, who was handpicked at the age of eight by Padukone, has grown up in the sport in the most ideal of circumstances. He was fortunate to have supportive parents (his father is a licensed coach), as well as the best facilities and technical expertise at the Padukone academy, where he was coached by Vimal Kumar. He was also well-funded, thanks to government support and the Olympic Gold Quest closely monitoring every training step he took. Years of meticulous planning have resulted in a project that has thrived in the Indian ecosystem.
Padukone made sure Sen was able to train with some of the best in the world, from Danish great Peter Gade in France to Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in Dubai, to add small facets to his game and continue honing it over time.
Sen has more international experience than any other Indian men’s singles player, and he has a strong line-up of excellent sparring partners in Bangalore. Sung Yoo Yong, the incoming Korean coach, was chosen from a pool of 15 candidates from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Korea after lengthy Zoom interviews with the former Olympic medalist in the United States.
Sen wasn’t afraid to toss the shuttle and slow the ship down to braking speeds in order to deprive Loh of his speed oxygen.
A traveling physiotherapist, frequent dietary consultations, and sleep monitoring – all performed by experts – round out the elite performance package.
The Korean coach worked with Vimal Kumar to devise a strategy to beat Kean Yew, a breakout young champion who had risen to prominence thanks to his incredible speed. However, it took a very complex intellect to pull off the beautiful simplicity of not going overboard and avoiding showy strikes when the opponent was doing just that. Sen didn’t ram down the gears even when he was leading 16-12 and 20-17 and on the verge of winning, keeping his cool to calmly win.
Kean Yew uses a crowded attack, which consists of flat, quick exchanges that jar opponents. Kidambi Srikanth has been eliminated from the World Championship finals by the flurry. Sen slowed the pace skillfully, refusing to feed the shuttle to Kean Yew’s racquet. Sen’s ability to come back from deficits — which only Saina Nehwal can claim — was a defining feature of his title run.
Kean Yew came back from a 17-19 deficit in the first set to win 20-19 and had three set points after that. Sen, on the other hand, would not be denied. He drew the stupidest of serving faults and a smash into the net from Kean Yew, a sitter on a yawning court. Sen would win the first game 24-22 with a daring drop from the sidelines.
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