Lakshya Sen pulled off one of the biggest wins of his season as he stunned world No 2 and home favourite Anders Antonsen in straight games 21-13, 21-14 in a 53-minute battle that had plenty of epic 30-plus shot rallies.
In what perhaps sums up the kind of season he has had so far, Lakshya was stretched to three games in a 79-minute marathon in the opening round by Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen, ranked 7 places below the Indian’s 21. But up against the defending champion in his own backyard, Lakshya played a near-perfect all-round game to come out on top. In men’s doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also progressed into the last 8, beating Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po-Hsuan and Lee Jhe-Huei, 21-19, 21-17 in 42 minutes.
While the scoreline shows straight games and a comfortable gap between Lakshya and Antonsen, the two were locked in plenty of engrossing rallies right from the start. At 4-4, a lovely rally from both players saw Lakshya remain patient in the midcourt exchanges and force an error by Antonsen. The next point was a good illustration of Lakshya’s racket skills in both attack and defence, as he first kept the rally alive with a diving get and then took charge at the net.
The rally for 8-6 was another chess battle, with deft touches at the front court from both players before Lakshya once again put away a winner at the net, showing a willingness to charge ahead when possible. Lakshya went into the interval with a handy 11-6 lead and after the break, kept Antonsen at an arm’s length. The Dane was uncharacteristically erratic on attack, his smash at 11-15 sailing so wide of the sidelines that he looked on with bemusement. A stunning defensive block off a net kill from Antonsen gave Lakshya a 17-11 lead. A crisp crosscourt smash winner from Lakshya set up 7 game points and a tame return error from Antonsen gave the Indian a well-earned lead.
The first half of the second game is worthy of its own mini highlights package. A 38-shot rally early on was won by Antonsen off a Lakshya error, while the Indian then bagged a 39-shot exchange with another charge towards the net. The rallies were getting longer at this stage and with the slower shuttle potentially favouring Antonsen’s tactical game style more, the Dane started to find his rhythm.
File image of Indian singles shuttler Lakshya Sen. (Photo courtesy: BAI)
But the rally at 4-4 was a 31-shot exchange that showed Lakshya was not allowing Antonsen to dictate these longer points, as the Indian did well to control the net before hitting a perfectly timed backhand clear that caught the line at the backcourt. A clever half-smash from Lakshya had Antonsen stretching on his forehand flank, unable to get the shuttle back over the net. Lakshya then changed it up from almost the same spot on court, going full power to Antonsen’s backhand side this time, to open up a 8-7 lead.
There was another 39-shot exchange that Antonsen won to make the score 9-10 but Lakshya went into the break with a 11-9 lead. A desperate rally, another lengthy one, saw commentator Gill Clark remark that Antonsen “played that rally as if his life depended on it” as the Dane made it 11-12. It seemed like he was turning the match around, going into the lead 13-12 on a run of 4 straight points.
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Then came the turning point. For 13-13, it would be another marathon rally, this time 44 shots for the longest one yet. That Lakshya started to look tired at the backend of it was concerning, but Antonsen’s wild forehand smash gave the Indian a reprieve. It seemed to knock the fight out of Antonsen as Lakshya quickly opened up a 16-13 lead from there, with a well-timed crosscourt half smash.
What looked like a potential game-changing run of 4 straight points for Antonsen was met with an even better seven-point streak by Lakshya as he raced ahead to 19-13, leaving the second seed stunned. It was somewhat ironic, as this is the exact situation Lakshya has often found himself in recent times, often struggling to arrest a mid-match slide and conceding points in clusters.
“Feeling really good about the win,” Lakshya told BWF after the win. “The way I played, the way I started, the way I finished off both the sets… credit to him too, e played a really solid game and it was not easy to put the shuttle down. I had to be very patient in the rally, wait for my chances. More than the first game, the start of the second game was very important. He’s a very tactical player, so I had to be solid on my defence and from the net I had to be extremely alert to his flat drives, then try and counter-attack that.”
It’s been a strange old season for Lakshya, with plenty of early exits and then sudden flashes in the pan thrown in between. It’s not lost on the Indian, who was asked after the match, where has this version of Lakshya Sen been this year?
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He explained. “For the longest time, I’m also trying to find that level back. At the start of the year and mid-year, I was a bit injured and couldn’t really be 100% on training. Couple of injuries, to the back and shoulder. I was just trying to come back from it, and then I had a really good period after the Macau Open where I played the semi-finals. It was not a big tournament, but for me it was important to get that match practice, get that confidence and a good training block before the Paris World Championships.”
“Then, I mean, it was a tough draw for me in Paris (taking on eventual champion Shi Yu Qi in the first round), but still the way I played there, I think gave me a lot of confidence to just keep going. The Hong Kong Open was a good week too. As of now, I’m just trying to maintain my good fitness, play more matches, find my level, find my rhythm, and just enjoy playing,” Lakshya signed off.
