Lakshya Sen (PTI Photo/Nand Kumar)
Lakshya Sen showed determination and stamina to defeat China’s Shi Yuqi in a thrilling three-game battle on Tuesday, winning 23-21, 19-21, 21-17 at the All England Open Badminton Championships. This was his first win over the former world No. 1.
1 in a BWF World Tour event, and it wasn’t easy.The match was intense from start to finish, witnessing long exchanges between the players and pushing each other to the limits. Lakshya started strong, dominating the first game with powerful strokes and quick play at the nets. Although he almost slipped away after taking a comfortable lead, he held his nerve in a tense finish to claim the opening goal.Coach Vimal praised his performance, saying: “Lakshya was very calm and collected today.
“From the beginning, he made Shi work hard for every point, and eventually the Chinese player started to feel tired.”Even when Shi fought back to win the second match, Lakshya did not lose his focus.“At one stage of the second match, I felt that Lakshya was a bit tired, but he recovered well and raised his level. His attacking play was also excellent,” he added. “Overall, the win was a huge confidence booster.”The deciding match was once again close, but Lakshya’s pace, defense and smart shot selection made the difference. He remained aggressive, forced Shi into errors and ended the match when the Chinese player hit a long shot on match point.In other matches, Malvika Bansod lost to China’s Chen Yufei in straight matches. However, the mixed doubles duo of Dhruv Kapila and Tanesha Crasto notched a straight win over Malaysia’s Ho Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin.
