Lakshya Sen clinches first title of season at Australian Open Super 500

A fast and fluent Lakshya Sen ended a difficult stretch on the international circuit by clinching his first title of the season defeating Japans Yushi Tanaka in the mens singles final of the USD 475000 Australian Open Super 500 on SundayThe 24yearold from Almora who had endured a tough phase after finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics capped a resurgent week with a commanding performance outplaying the 26yearold Tanaka 2115 2111 in 38 minutes and celebrated the win by putting his fingers in his earsLakshya a 2021 World Championships bronze medallist had last won a Super 300 title at the Syed Modi International in Lucknow in 2024 However a toptier crown had eluded him since his triumph at the Canada Open that same year though he came close at the Hong Kong Super 500 in September when he finished runnerupFacing world No 26 Tanaka winner of two Super 300 titles this year at the Orleacuteans Masters and the US Open Lakshya displayed crisp control sharp placement and clean execution to wrap up the contest without dropping a gameWith this victory the reigning Commonwealth Games champion became only the second Indian to win a BWF World Tour title this season following Ayush Shettys maiden Super 300 triumph at the US Open Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had reached the finals at the Hong Kong and China Masters while Kidambi Srikanth also logged a runnerup finish at the Malaysia Masters earlier in the yearLakshya made a confident start opening up a 63 lead as Tanaka committed a flurry of errorsmdashhitting into the net going wide and overcooking his lifts A 35shot rally ended with the Japanese shuttler again finding the net before a lucky net cord finally broke Lakshyas run of pointsTwo crisp crosscourt smashes on either flank had Lakshya on the floor as Tanaka closed the gap to 79 but the Indian carried a threepoint cushion into the midgame interval after the Japanese sprayed another shot into the netChants of ldquoLakshya Lakshyardquo rang around the arena during the midgame interval with a sizeable Indian crowd turning up to support himThe Indian tightened his grip thereafter dominating the net exchanges and keeping the shuttle flat and deep denying Tanaka the length he needed to unleash his whipping smashes as he moved ahead 139 Tanaka responded with a powerful smash followed by a long error from Lakshya and a sharp net shot to make it 1213 But Lakshya again pulled away opening up a fourpoint lead at 1713 with a backhand smash and another fierce crosscourt winnerTanaka tried to stay in the hunt but two long errors handed Lakshya five game points The Indian converted immediately as Tanaka drove another shuttle into the netThe second game turned into a onesided affair as Lakshya kept up the intensity continuing to play fast flat returns even as Tanaka tried stretching him with his trademark whipping smashes which were far too few to pose any challengeThe Japanese overdid his attack and his inconsistency overshadowed his moments of brilliance as Lakshya moved ahead 84 A flat crosscourt drive pushed Lakshya to 105 and he secured a sixpoint lead at the interval with another thunderous smashLakshya showed excellent backline judgment as Tanaka repeatedly floated the shuttle long After winning a tight net duel the Indian extended the lead to 136 Tanaka struggled to withstand Lakshyas power continuing to hit wide and into the net as the lead swelled to 178Lakshya then hammered a barrage of smashes to move to 198 and soon earned 10 match points with another fine shot near the net He squandered one with a net error but sealed the title with a sharp crosscourt returnThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever