How Lakshya Sen goes from leading 17-11, 19-14 to losing the second set 21-23, is in the realms of speculation or snakes-and-ladder on a badminton court. That’s effectively a net 4-11 points from a very advantageous position straight into the ditch.
But like a good doctor would tell you, they can’t keep the rains from raining down, they can only arm you with a sturdy umbrella. So what India’s shuttler-in-need-of-Sherlock and his massively varied coaching team have done is try to respond to these familiar lapses by staying solid in the third. NG Ka Long Angus must’ve expected Sen to crumble after one of his usual blunderings took the All England Round 2 into the decider. Because he had slumped at the Olympics (twice), and myriad other tournaments. But Sen played an absolutely laser-focussed third set, to win 21-19, 21-23, 21-10 and defeat the opponent from Hong Kong, aged 31, ranked 29 to reach quarterfinals.
On Friday, he plays Chinese Li Shifeng, his batchmate whom he led 7-4 in head to head before All England of 2025, and is now tied at 7-7. Against Angus, Sen broke a 0-3 jinx. Can he stem the tide, when playing the World No.6? Can Sen respond to having lost the lead he once held over Shifeng, just like he yanked things back in the third set?
Coach Vimal Kumar offers an insight. “It’s a pattern I’ve noticed,” he says after Sen frittered 4 match points from 20-17 up against Angus. “Right after Lakshya has played 4-5 outstanding points, he has a tendency to play 1 or 2 casual shots. Actually it becomes a string of casual points. And then the anxiety drains him out, and he’s lost. It shows in the body language, and he looked dejected after losing the second 21-23.”
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But signs of the tide turning were minutes away. “What was brilliant about Lakshya was how he played the third set strongly. He did not go in blind, showed no desperation like he has in the past. It was very positive badminton, very pleased with his game,” the coach said.
It was in how Sen played the first five points of the third set. “He was 0-2, but he went all the way to 21-10,” Vimal says. “Of course he could’ve comfortably won in 2, but he stayed strong.” In the past, it has cost him sets, matches and medals. On Thursday, he cruised after eschewing a needless flat game he got sucked into after changing ends for the second, and allowed Angus a comeback. At 18-16, he had a cross smash which was perfect, and in the third he continued with his first set plans.
In the third game, against an opponent who was imminently beatable, Sen hunkered down, retrieved everything, cut out all flash, and simply refused to take the foot off the gas, till it was done. (AP Photo)
The game plan was to keep Angus pivoting for the backhand to the back corner, and open up the court. Sen broke away at 18-15 with some stupendous back-hand fast exchanges, Korean doubles style, where defense morphs into offense at a fast clip. He was mildly incensed after running out of challenges when a toss floated and landed on the backline, and he couldn’t get it verified.
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But the general idea to force him on the backhand worked, as Angus messed up the next two points to give Sen the 21-19 impetus he needed. In the second, before the moment that some call a brain fade, but Vimal reckons is overthinking, Sen was holding a chunky lead. But the longer the rally went, the more impatient he got, and allowed Angus right back.
“Very solid game in both sets. Also credit to him. He made a solid comeback on the second. And I just didn’t play freely towards the end of the second set. And just gave too many easy shots for him to kill. But I was prepared in the third set, to go all out,” he told BWF. “Tactically I was playing the right game in both sets. But the last few points I didn’t stick to the plan. Gave away too many easy ones,” he added.
It’s what brought him down against Shifeng the last time they met. “Tomorrow is another even match, or I’d put it at 60-40 to Lakshya if he plays like this, and uses half smashes judiciously,” Vimal says. “He’s OK playing Shifeng, but had hurried after he was way up last time (Sen was 16-10 up in the second before losing 21-14, 22-24, 11-21 at China Open). He hurried. But at All England he is looking overall cool, composed. He’s keeping the same tempo. The shuttles are good so he’s stroking freely,” he adds.
Shifeng has won the All England before, and Sen could be simply hungrier. He’s also carrying the burden of Chinese challenge, after Sen packed off Shi Yuqi. “At the Olympics both Chinese failed miserably. And Shifeng’s not had a good German Open. But with Lakshya, it’s always about how he responds.” To taking the lead, or losing it and still staying solid. “It was important to switch off, forget the second set, and just play the third with the same gameplan,” he told BWF. The Shifeng hurdle will demand more of the same sturdiness.
