Just as India's rising badminton star Lakshya Sen lost to world number one Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen at the men's singles final at All England Badminton Championships, closer home Sen was met with only praises for his performance.
Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra took to Twitter to hail Sen's performance at All England Badminton Championships, tweeting, “Viktor’s Imperious as a King perhaps, but @lakshya_sen is a Prince who will be crowned sooner or later…Bravo Lakshya, you made us all proud getting to the final of the world’s oldest badminton tournament…"
Additionally, the Twitter savvy RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka wrote, “lion hearted display by #LakshyaSen today in the #AllEnglandOpen. Lakshya may have lost but has won the hearts of billions of Indians. This is the start ! I can see him contributing to India’s gold reserves in the future."
Meanwhile, the Danmark shuttler defeated Sen by 21-10, 21-15 at Utilita Arena in Birmingham in the badminton match that lasted 53 minutes. Viktor Axelsen has now increased his lead in the head-to-head against Sen by 5-1.
The young Indian shutter was bidding to become only the third man after Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) to win the All England Open Badminton Championships, or simply All England which is the world's oldest and most prestigious badminton tournament.
After taking part in this final, Sen is now only the fifth Indian - after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980 and 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) - to make the summit clash of All England.
India's rising badminton star has been in top form in recent times. He secured his maiden world championships bronze in December, before winning his first Super 500 title at India Open in January and finishing runner-up at the German Open last week.
(With inputs from agencies)
