While Lakshya Sen’s exciting run at the prestigious All England Open ended in the semi-final stage, it was certainly not without a fight as the young Indian shuttler went down fighting in an engrossing three-game battle against former World No. 2 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia. After coming through a string of long, energy-sapping matches in the last two weeks, Sen was perhaps left with little in the tank for the last hurdle as he lost 12-21, 21-10, 15-21 in 68 minutes against the in-form Christie.
Sen had spent nearly two hours on court each in his previous two rounds, outlastingLee Zii Jia and Ng Ka Long Angus in three tight games apiece. The toll wasbeginning to show as he sluggishly started off the first game, struggling to find his rhythm against Christie’s net-based game. However, to his credit, the 22-year old Indian shone through with his tremendous fighting spirit and fitness levels as he bounced back to take the second game comfortably.
Sadly for Sen and his legions of fans, the tank appeared to be empty heading into the decider. While he managed to keep fighting, a few loose shots from the tired limbs gave Christie the advantage he needed to close out the match. While the defeat was understandably disappointing, Sen took several positives from his overall performances. He acknowledged that starting matches stronger so as to conserve energy for late stages needs to be an area of focus going forward. Sen seems to be learning with every big event and on the evidence of this run, certainly has the game and mentality to soon break through for major titles.
