Lakshya Sen’s impressive run at the Kumamoto Japan Masters Super 500 tournament came to an end on Saturday in the semifinals as he lost to local favourite Kenta Nishimoto in a three-game battle. World number 13 Nishimoto prevailed in 77 minutes against Lakshya, ranked two places below him, 21-19, 14-21, 21-12 in 77 minutes.
As per ranking trackers, the defeat marked the end of Lakshya’s outside chances of making it to the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals where the top 8 shuttlers over the course of the calendar from each of the five disciplines compete. Lakshya’s late-season resurgence, where he made it to the final at Hong Kong Open and semifinals at Macau Open, came a bit late for him to make the cut to the lucrative year-ender. The string of first or second round exits in the first half of the year, which he has attributed to a couple of niggling injuries, eventually proved costly.
In the semifinal against Nishimoto too, Lakshya slipped on his front leg at the net as he went for a backhand; he still managed to get back up and into position for a forehand block. He dived to his right but couldn’t keep the shuttle in play, and then was slow to pick himself up, trudging off to the sidelines and needing a couple of minutes to loosen himself up. He won the point immediately after, and his movement seemed alright but the momentum shifted completely towards Nishimoto as he opened up an 8-3 lead and held on to cross the finish line.
Lakshya, the 2021 World Championship bronze medallist, came into the match with a 3-2 head-to-head lead but had lost their previous encounter at the Indonesia Masters earlier this year. In a clash between two evenly-matched players, it was about staying consistent in the rallies and drawing out errors. Lakshya managed that early on, moving to an 8-4 lead, but Nishimoto seized the momentum by taking seven straight points for a 10-9 advantage. The Japanese player smashed out once but still held a narrow lead as Lakshya found the net.
Nishimoto’s steep smashes troubled Lakshya as he moved ahead 15-13. The Indian pounced on a loose net shot to make it 14-15 before producing a crosscourt return to level the score. Lakshya edged ahead 17-16 but briefly let it slip with two shots into the net. A thundering straight smash made it 18-18 before his next attempt missed the line by a whisker. A crisp reverse slice drop gave Nishimoto two game points. He sent one smash wide before Lakshya netted again, handing the opening game to the Japanese.
Changing ends, Lakshya fell 1-5 behind but slowed the rallies and stitched together a run of points to take an 8-7 lead as Nishimoto began to struggle physically. The Indian claimed eight of the last nine points to go into the break with a three-point cushion, finishing the run with a sharp cross-court smash. Both players looked to outmanoeuvre each other and Lakshya maintained his advantage, reaching 16-13 with a mix of delicate net play, crisp smashes and robust defence. With Nishimoto faltering, Lakshya surged to a 20-14 lead and levelled the match as the Japanese went long.
Start of the third game, Nishimoto rediscovered his rhythm with sharp, attacking returns. He moved to 5-2 after Lakshya slipped and sent the shuttle wide during the aforementioned defensive reflex dive. A terrific body smash pushed Nishimoto to 7-3 even as Lakshya did a full pirouette in an attempt to retrieve it but couldn’t save the point. It became 9-5 with another long return from the Indian.
The Japanese showed great tactical awareness, producing a precise cross-court smash to take a four-point lead at the interval during which Lakshya’s coach Yoo Yong Sun was seen massaging his ward’s left thigh vigorously, suggesting perhaps he was not 100% fit.
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On resumption, Lakshya tapped into the net as Nishimoto stretched the lead to 14-7 with two more smashes, celebrating each point with a fist pump. Another body smash, followed by a long shot from Lakshya, took Nishimoto to 17-9. Lakshya eventually went wide to hand eight match points to Nishimoto, who sealed his place in the final with another clean smash.
(With PTI inputs)
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