Tactically better: Coach Vimal Kumar says Lakshya Sen was in control during India Open final | Badminton News – Times of India

Lakshya Sen, the new poster boy of Indian badminton, won the battle of the GenNext against newly crowned world champion Loh Kean Yew to annex the India Open men’s badminton title in New Delhi on Sunday.
In a match which was as much about skill as it was of speed and mental strength, the 20-year-old homeboy prevailed 24-22, 24-17 over his opponent from Singapore. With this win, world No. 17 Sen, a product of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru, became the third Indian male shuttle after Padukone (1981; Pune Masters then) and Kidambi Srikanth (2015) to win the competition.
In the past four months, the rivalry between Sen and Yew, ranked 15th in the world, has been riveting. It started at the Dutch Open in October where the 24-year-old Yew dethroned Sen. Their head-to-head is 2-2 all.

All their four recent meetings have been two-game contests marked by intent, intensity and aggression. The duo understands each other’s game well, especially since they were among the five talented shuttlers picked by Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen to train with him last year in Dubai.
On the camaraderie with his opponent, which was on show after the match, Sen said, “We know each other’s game well and what to expect from the other. We’ve had four encounters in the last six months and have trained together in Dubai. We are good friends off the court, but on it, we just want to beat the other.”

Analysing Sen’s win, his coach Vimal Kumar pointed out, “I’m happy with the way he played today. Tactically, Lakshya was better. He varied the pace and never allowed Loh Kean Yew to dictate the pace of the rallies. He mixed it up very well from the net. In both the games, Lakshya was always in control of the rallies. In the first game, he was up 16-9 when Yew took four points, but Lakshya recovered well. Overall, it shows he is maturing into playing at the big stage.”

Vimal believes there is scope for improvement in his protege.
“From October, Lakshya has been playing steadily. There is a lot of scope for improvement. He can work on his endurance, core strength especially stability around the net area. After this he will play in Lucknow and will get about 4-5 weeks of good preparatory phase in Bengaluru to get ready for the European tournaments beginning in March.”