Lakshya Sen finally nailed down a title, the Super 500 in his last tournament abroad this season at Sydney’s Australia Open. And after a tough year when he lost at Hong Kong finals, and made a late surge while dealing with injuries, finished with a stomping 21-15, 21-11 win against Japanese Yushi Tanaka.
Unlike a few botched attempts at bagging the initiative, most notably at the Paris Olympics, Sen showed composure to finish in the first set. Far too often, Sen has taken leads but succumbed to opponent’s increasing intensity from the 17th point onwards. After the triumph, he told the Olympics channel, that on Sunday at Sydney, he kept his nerve.
“It was important to get a good start. And also the first game, and first mid game was quite even, the scores and then I got good momentum and could finish the first set. And it was important for me to get a good start in the second as well and maintain that pressure on him. I could really be calm in closing stages of first set. And happy with way I played,” he told Olympic channel.
It was important in the context of the number of occasions he has frittered away good positions. He told BWF, “In the second set I was quite far off (far ahead) in the lead, but I didn’t want to get (that) too inside my head so I wouldn’t relax too much. In the back of my mind it was there but I was just trying to focus on playing one point at a time.”
Sen also dipped into the struggles of 2025 and specially the poor start to 2025. “Yes I’ve seen many ups and downs in this season. Didn’t start the season well but but happy with how I played in this tournament and throughout this week. Now hoping this win will continue my momentum to the next year. Looking forward to next season. Just very happy how I played,” he told Olympic channel.
While Tanaka too was facing nerves after a not so impressive season of his own, save the World Championships upset over Li Shifeng in Round 1, pressure had been mounting on Sen, seeded seventh, to get that elusive title. He had India Open and Canada Open in 2022 and 2024, but it had been a long wait, making Australia that much more significant, though the field wasn’t the toughest, and Tanaka had cleaned up Jojo Christie and other seeded names.
“It was a big match. Big atmosphere. Big, big, big occasion for both of us. It was important to not think too much and keep basics right. I could manage to start really well and played a really safe game,” Sen told Olympic channel.
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It’s end of the season, and late for World Tour Finals qualification, but Sen can use this title to carry forward the good vibes and fitness into next year. “The way I’ve played in last 2-3 months I’d love to continue this momentum forward to next season. Keep looking after my body and just keep playing like this,” he added.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
