Lakshya Sen and Shi Yu Qi entered the Adidas Arena together on Monday but their walk to the court was in total contrast. Having won nine successive finals on the tour since January 2024, the Chinese world No.1 exuded confidence. His fantastic run this year has already yielded him four titles — Malaysia Open, All England Open, Japan Open and China Open.
Lakshya, following him into the 8,000-seater arena in Paris, had endured a poor run with 11 losses in 19 outings this season. To make matters worse, he ran into the men’s top seed in the BWF World Championships opener. The result, expectedly, went in favour of Shi, who won for the fourth time in five meetings against Lakshya, 21-17, 21-19 in 54 minutes.
The lightning speed and explosiveness that propelled the India No.1 to his peak a couple of seasons ago has gone amiss of late for Lakshya, who suffered his eighth first round exit in 12 competitions this season. The world No.21 can’t be faulted for not trying. He gave it his all, but even that wasn’t enough to upstage an opponent who has just four losses in 39 matches this season.
Shi, who rarely ever starts in top gear, took time to adjust to the drift as he tested the conditions and shuttle speed, which helped Lakshya earn a few points at the start. But once he found rhythm, Shi started piling the pressure on Lakshya. After hitting a half smash, he would rush to stump the Indian and kill the bird at the net to earn points.
Shi’s speed, reflexes and down-the-line smashes — some over 400kph — set him apart, especially in the longer rallies that invariably went in his favour. He injected such potency in his cross-court smashes that even a top defensive player like Lakshya was unable to retrieve.
Shi continued to operate in his typical languid style, making his strokes look effortless. His wristy execution was top class as he took the opening game in 26 minutes.
At the exchange of ends, Lakshya’s coach Yoo Yong Sung told him that Shi was tiring. But what he failed to notice was that so was his protege.
The match resumed. So did Shi’s onslaught. He slowly started opening the gap and went into the interval leading 11-7. Lakshya had no response to Shi’s cross-court shots and kept lifting the shuttle in defence, which the Chinese found too easy to finish.
Lakshya did try and fight back throughout the match. Every time it looked like Shi was running away, the Indian, who won a bronze in the 2021 edition, clawed back to within a point or two of his opponent, just by sticking in, bringing out his defensive best. A few of Lakshya’s smashes also managed to become winners, but more often than not they were returned by the world’s best.
Despite being 15-10 down, Lakshya drew parity at 19-all. But every time he fought back, Shi was able to overcome the pressure to inch closer to victory.
With nothing going his way, Lakshya tried doing something different. The 24-year-old went for some uncharacteristic shots which resulted in errors. The Indian also picked up a controversial point by returning a shuttle that had touched the court.
The inevitable finally happened when Lakshya’s return went wide, handing a second-round entry to the Chinese, who is aiming to win his first world title.
