Lakshya Sen puts up a valiant show despite running on empty, falls to Lin Chun-Yi in All England final
· Yahoo Sports
It was so near for Lakshya Sen, yet again. Half-fit, he did all that he could. But his body failed him in Sunday’s title clash of the All England Championship in Birmingham. In a 57-minute contest marked by high-speed rallies and relentless attacking play, he lost 15-21, 20-22 to Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei.
Playing his second All England final after finishing runner-up in 2022, the 24-year-old Indian seemed to have made good recovery after Saturday’s sapping semifinal win over Victor Lai of Canada, but the blisters on his right foot clearly hampered his movement. His inability to dive on the right flank was cleverly exploited by his left-handed opponent and it was clear the Indian was soon running on empty — the after effects of spending a total of five hours, 18 minutes on court during the tournament.
As his mentor Vimal Kumar had said before the match, Lakshya was 100% mentally strong but his body was only 60% fit.
Lakshya was gutted. “I’m pretty emotional right now to think about the match,” he said later. “It was a good match. In the first set, he was a better player. I could have finished the second set better. But I am happy with the way I played the whole week.
“My physical condition was not ideal but to be honest, when I was playing, I did not think about anything but to give my best on the court. Yesterday, I was struggling with cramps. Though I got some time to recover, I could not recover 100%,” he added.
It was Lin all the way in the first set. The India Open champion started with a 1-4 lead and had a two-point advantage at the break (11-9).
Targeting Lakshya’s right side, the southpaw from Taipei collected several points after the break. He extended the lead to 15-10 with the help of some power-packed cross-court smashes to Lakshya’s forehand.
Though Lakshya reduced the margin to 13-16, Lin pulled ahead to 19-14. Lin’s plan was simple. Move Lakshya all over the court during every rally and go in for the kill once the Indian tired.
Lakshya showed glimpses of a comeback in the second game. He hit some brilliant smashes, executed some breath-taking drops to lead for the first time in the match.
When Lakshya widened the gap to 8-4, Lin looked edgy and made some unforced errors as the Indian advanced to 10-5. But the Taipei shuttler recovered in time and regained the momentum to catch up with the Indian at 14-14. Thereafter, it was too close to call.
At 18-18, Lin played a brilliant round-the-head shot, Lakshya responded with a smash to make it 19-19. Lakshya saved a match point at 19-20 but at 20-21, he misread a return and hit the shuttle wide.
Lin became the first Chinese Taipei shuttler to win the All England singles title. It was a little after compatriots Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan became the first unseeded duo to bag the All England mixed doubles crown.
Playing his second All England final after finishing runner-up in 2022, the 24-year-old Indian seemed to have made good recovery after Saturday’s sapping semifinal win over Victor Lai of Canada, but the blisters on his right foot clearly hampered his movement. His inability to dive on the right flank was cleverly exploited by his left-handed opponent and it was clear the Indian was soon running on empty — the after effects of spending a total of five hours, 18 minutes on court during the tournament.
As his mentor Vimal Kumar had said before the match, Lakshya was 100% mentally strong but his body was only 60% fit.
Lakshya was gutted. “I’m pretty emotional right now to think about the match,” he said later. “It was a good match. In the first set, he was a better player. I could have finished the second set better. But I am happy with the way I played the whole week.
“My physical condition was not ideal but to be honest, when I was playing, I did not think about anything but to give my best on the court. Yesterday, I was struggling with cramps. Though I got some time to recover, I could not recover 100%,” he added.
It was Lin all the way in the first set. The India Open champion started with a 1-4 lead and had a two-point advantage at the break (11-9).
Targeting Lakshya’s right side, the southpaw from Taipei collected several points after the break. He extended the lead to 15-10 with the help of some power-packed cross-court smashes to Lakshya’s forehand.
Though Lakshya reduced the margin to 13-16, Lin pulled ahead to 19-14. Lin’s plan was simple. Move Lakshya all over the court during every rally and go in for the kill once the Indian tired.
Lakshya showed glimpses of a comeback in the second game. He hit some brilliant smashes, executed some breath-taking drops to lead for the first time in the match.
When Lakshya widened the gap to 8-4, Lin looked edgy and made some unforced errors as the Indian advanced to 10-5. But the Taipei shuttler recovered in time and regained the momentum to catch up with the Indian at 14-14. Thereafter, it was too close to call.
At 18-18, Lin played a brilliant round-the-head shot, Lakshya responded with a smash to make it 19-19. Lakshya saved a match point at 19-20 but at 20-21, he misread a return and hit the shuttle wide.
Lin became the first Chinese Taipei shuttler to win the All England singles title. It was a little after compatriots Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan became the first unseeded duo to bag the All England mixed doubles crown.
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