All England Open Badminton Championships 2022: Lakshya Sen loses to Viktor Axelsen in final

Lakshya Sen went down to world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the final but became the first Indian men’s player in 21 years to win a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships 2022 on Sunday.

Lakshya Sen, 20, was playing in his first BWF Super 1000 final. He lost to Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Viktor Axelsen 21-10, 21-15 in 53 minutes. This was also Viktor Axelsen’s second All England Open title and his fourth successive final at the event.

Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, was playing his second match against the Dane this season. The Indian badminton player had defeated Axelsen in the German Open semi-finals earlier this month after being beaten four times previously.

Unlike their previous meeting at the German Open, it was Viktor Axelsen this time who settled early in the match and raced to a 6-0 lead.

Lakshya Sen pulled off a couple of smashes and played long rallies but Viktor Axelsen used his reach and placement well to go into the break leading 11-2.

With Lakshya Sen’s defensive approach falling flat, a change in strategy helped the Indian gain a few handy points at the end. Viktor Axelsen, however, pocketed the first game with ease.

In the second game, Viktor Axelsen, who had not lost a game in this edition, was equally matched by Lakshya Sen in the early exchanges.

After being tied at 4-4, Viktor Axelsen nullified Lakshya Sen’s aggressive game with a clinical combo of attack and defense to win seven of the next eight points.

Lakshya Sen even played a 70-shot rally when Axelsen was leading 17–11. The young Indian, however, was beaten all squares by his senior opponent.

Despite the loss, Lakshya Sen matched the feats of Saina Nehwal and his mentor Prakash Padukone, who also won silver medals in 1981 and 2015 in their respective singles events. Prakash Nath in the amateur era in 1947, had also made it to the final.

Prakash Padukone in 1980 and Pullela Gopichand in 2001 are the only two Indians who have won the title.

Lakshya came into the final having lost only two of the 17 matches since winning the bronze at world championships in December.

Lakshya Sen beat reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew for the India Open crown in January and clinched a silver medal at the German Open earlier in March.

Despite being handed a tricky draw at the All England Open, Lakshya Sen overcame higher-ranked world No. 3 Anders Antonsen in the second-round and world No. 7 Lee Zii Jia in the semi-finals.

Earlier, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, daughter of Pullela Gopichand, created history by becoming the first Indian women’s doubles pair to enter the semi-final of All England Open.

India’s Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal crashed out from the competition in the second round.

Indian badminton players will be next seen in action at Swiss Open starting from March 22.