Lakshya Sen’s run ends with loss to Viktor Axelsen in final

Birmingham, March 19

Lakshya Sen’s dream run at the All England Championships ended with a heartbreaking straight-game loss against world No. 1 and Olympics champion Viktor Axelsen in the men’s singles final today, continuing India’s 21-year-long agonising wait for the coveted trophy.

After four days of sensational badminton, the 20-year-old Sen faltered on the cusp of history as he committed too many errors to go down 10-21 15-21 to former champion Axelsen in a lop-sided summit clash that lasted 53 minutes. “I thnk the strategy was there. I played him last week but today he was looking solid in attack and defence as well. He was really patient and played a really good game,” Sen said.

“In the opening game, I committed a lot of errors, that cost me the game. I was there in the second game but again he was too solid for me to put the shuttle down,” he added.

On Saturday, Sen had become only the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980, 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) to reach the final of the prestigious tournament after outwitting defending champion Lee Zii Jia.

A week back, Sen had recorded his first win over former world champion Axelsen en route at the German Open but his highly-fancied rival returned the favours today, claiming his fifth overall win against the Indian.

“There was a lot of pressure before the match but when I was on court it was just another match for me. I played really crucial match yesterday and that gave me confidence but credit to him for playing a perfect game,” Sen said.

Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi won the women’s singles crown, beating South Korea’s An Seyoung 21-15 21-15 in the final. —