Bengaluru, March 22: The All-England Open runner up Lakshya Sen on Tuesday said it does not matter to take a break from a tight international schedule as it gives an opportunity to refurbish and give the best shot at upcoming tournaments. “When the schedule is too tight you have to give yourself a break. Therefore, I decided to opt out of the Swiss Open. After taking a two days break, I will begin my preparations and try to focus on building my game and work on my strengths to give my best in all the tournaments ahead,” he told UNI, responding to a query on the reason for him to opt out of the Swiss Open.
Giving more reasons, Lakshya said playing the All-England Open takes a heavy toll on a player’s body because of the “laborious” playing conditions there. “Playing the All-England Open takes a toll on your body because the shuttles are slow and the atmosphere there is pretty conducive for long rallies. So, it is very necessary to look after your body. But, I am happy I managed to play the finals and it was a big learning curve for me. The draw also was a very tough ask for me,” he said.
Talking about the All-England finals, he said it was quite a challenge as Viktor Axelsen got the advantage in the first set itself as the conditions suited him. “But I was prepared for a really good match, but Axelsen prevailed,” he said. Asked what was going in his mind before taking on Axelsen in the All-England final, Lakshya said he was confident of winning the title as he had beaten him in the German Open, but knew it would not be easy to achieve the feat because he had played a lot of games here earlier and knew the conditions well. “But definitely, I have a lot to learn from this defeat,” he said.
Lakshya had defeated Olympic champion Axelsen in the German Open. Replying to a query, Lakshya said the Korean Open is 12 days away and he would take at least three days break and try to prepare for the Korean Open thereof. On Narendra Modi’s tweet congratulating him for his All-England Open feat, Lakshya said the PM has been a great support for sportspersons that was quite evident in his interactions with them during Tokyo Olympics and thereafter.
“More than the words, PM Modi’s personal touch motivates sportspersons. I also had the occasion of meeting him earlier,” he said. Despite losing to Alexsen, Lakshya has broken into the top of men’s singles rankings after his consistent showing in the new season. The Indian shutter outsmarted defending champion Lee Zii Jia in a hard-fought battle, coming back from behind in the decider. The Almora shuttler was the first Indian in 21 years to reach the final of the All-England Championships.
Only three Indians Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980 and 1981) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) had reached the All-England final before Lakshya. Only Padukone and Gopichand won the prestigious title for India. Saina Nehwal reached the final in 2015, but lost to Spanish star Carolina Marin. Lakshya had beaten Olympic bronze medalist Anthony Ginting (All England), world champion Loh Kean Yew (India Open), world bronze medalist Anders Antonsen (All England) and last year’s winner Lee (All England). UNI
