Indian downs All England champion Li Shi Feng in Canada Open to end his year-long wait for crown
Lakshya Sen ended his year-long title drought with a stunning 21-18, 22-20 win over All England champion Li Shi Feng in the Canada Open BWF Super 500 final in Calgary on Sunday.
This is Sen's first title after the Commonwealth Games gold last August.
After a splendid season last year, where he won the India Open Super 500 tournament, reached the All England final and won the CWG gold, Lakshya underwent a surgery (septoplasty) on his nose late last year and struggled for form thereafter.
Despite reaching two semifinals, Lakshya looked to be at his best only at this tournament, where he outclassed second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the first round and Li in the final.
He made a strong statement the way he came back from 16-20 in the second game. "I am very happy to win this tournament. I thank all those who supported me. Today I played the right game," Lakshya said after the victory.
He said he was in no mood to give up at 16-20. "Towards second game, it was difficult for me to predict anything because I was trailing all the way. All I could think of was to cover the lead. Even when I was trailing, I never thought I would lose this set. I went all out to score key points. The key was to remain patient," he said.
Li praised Lakshya for the fighting spirit and said these kind of matches are good for badminton. "Li is a difficult opponent to play. He played a very good game but I did well at crucial times," Lakshya said.
Lakshya's two-minute display of his talent towards the end of the second game, when he won six straight points was a good exhibition of his fighting ability.
At 16-20, he saved the first game point with a terrific body smash. The next one was a down the line jump smash winner. Then there was a perfect dribble at the net.
Two ferocious jump smash winners from 19-20 helped him move to 21-20. Lakshya then came up with some deft work at the net and once he got the height, he closed the contest with a power-packed straight smash. The five smash winners were also a result of some superb retrieving by Lakshya.
Missing out on titles made him more determined and the hunger to excel could be seen in the manner he moved on the court in the final.
Lakshya will travel to America this week to collect some points from the US Open Super-300 tournament.
The task for Lakshya, who is ranked 19 now, is to get into the top-16 and be one of the two ranked Indian men. Only two Indians qualify for Olympics if they are in top-16 of the rankings.
