Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 16: Lakshya Sen of India won the Indian Open men’s singles final 24-22 21-17, defeating world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore. Sen has won the BWF World Tour Super 500 for the first time, and his third overall.
Sen continued his strong success at the BWF World Championships, where he reached the semi-finals of the 2021 edition, with a fine performance against Loh, who he dominated throughout the game.
Throughout the match, Sen’s style of play versus Loh was noticeably different, as the Indian, who like to play an attacking game, was patient in his rallies against the Singapore player. Sen did well to breach it, which was perhaps a testament to the current world champion’s superb defensive game.
Sen made an outstanding comeback after the Singapore shuttler took a 2-0 lead in the first game. He scored four points in a row. While Sen led for the majority of the game, Loh eventually rallied back with six straight points to tie the game at 19-19 in the last minutes. The game points went back and forth between the two teams before Lakshya closed the gap to 24-22 thanks to a Loh sideline blunder.
Loh played much better in the second game, jumping out to a 4-1 lead before Lakshya clawed back to tie the game. In the second game, the Indian was more aggressive, and both players pulled strings on one another to keep the score close.
However, the Singapore shuttler’s unforced errors continued to hurt him as Lakshya led 11-9 at halftime. Following a five-point run by Lakshya after the interval, Loh launched a mini-comeback to reduce the gap on the Indian. However, it wasn’t enough for the Singapore shuttler, as at the end Lakshya won the India Open.
