This is more than a "good" result, imo. In light of the previous week, this was an absolutely excellent result. He is even favourite now against his QF opposition at 20 years of age.
After reading your post here in the morning, I thought maybe he'll have a three game loss. I kind of expected it. And personally I would have been contented with it if it stretched to three games albeit the loss. But after watching today, my confidence on him grew even more. I was cautious regarding predicting a win coz I thought maybe he'll be fatigued from last week matches and also the bigger reason was I didn't expect him to showcase results against biggies so soon (I put that win against Viktor in exception list). But yeah I'm happy with the win not nonly coz it was against a top 3 player but also the way he played, controlled his composure and coming back in the second game. Excited for tomorrow.
“I’m in really good form and the tournaments I played last year gave me a lot of confidence. The India Open win was a big boost. As a kid you always want to win at the All England as this event has a rich history, so it’s an important tournament for me and I look forward to doing well” Isn’t he still a kid?!? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sure, he did pay. Lol Somehow I like the cockiness of this guy. But to cut him some slack— being the favorite in the encounters, it is really tough to play LKY & LS in the initial rounds of the tournament. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Very good game plan by Laksha against LZJ at the All England semi-finals. I knew he was saving his energy when LZJ took a lead in the 2nd set and Laksha decided he couldn't catch up, so Laksha just stopped smashing and played defensively to conserve his energy. Laksha was also very patient throughout this series against LZJ. My one comment about Laksha's game is that I think he needs to work on his fitness and stamina. By far, LZJ was doing so much more jump & power smashes this match. Laksha hit a lot of smashes from the back court without even jumping, even though he had a lot of time to jump. I think Laksha just didn't have the stamina & fitness to do the jump smashes against LZJ. From an energy perspective, I think LZJ expended more energy and stamina that Laksha this match. I think LZJ is probably the fitter player between the two. So I think Laksha needs to work on his stamina/fitness and make it better.
Also keep in mind that LS had a day of rest before today's match whereas LZJ used a lot of energy yesterday against Momota.
Was watching post interval of 3rd game bw Sen and Zii Jia. Just wanted to relive those moments and make it a good morning to myself. Lakshya trailed 10-14 and 12-16. Okay at this point of time during the match, last night I was like the match is gone coz his legs weren't the same. We all saw fatigue was creeping in 2nd game onwards, hence my fear. I'll be honest if it were any other Indian, there would have been 95 percent chance of losing from there coz Indians are mostly weak in pressure conditions. Not everyone is like MSD. The guy narrowed it down 16-18 and then came up 20-18. At this stage when he ramped up 4 points back to back. My heartbeat was going at the same gear shift which Lakshya applied. And with each passing point, my prayers and my smile started increasing. It was a surreal feeling. Some GOT reference: the feeling was like when Arya was just about to meet her family in Frey's castle and she was that close and happy. And then the Hound says that you've come so close and you are afraid, you'll not be able to see them again. Same thing for Lakshya. It was 20-18 and I was like please convert it. Coz I've always been a LCW fan and it has been heartbreaking for me many times that the guy always came close but couldn't finish due to mighty LD mastery and geniusness. So, it was quite an emotional moment to finally taste the fruit which I could never experience during LCW major finals. You know guys, these are the moments when you feel Sports is something else. Last time I cried at a non badminton event was when ManCity won EPL 2011-12 season. Some things go beyond borders but personally, nothing beats the feeling of seeing your country athlete winning your hearts.
I watched the match again right after the first session ended and I will watch it again today I don't know why but I had full faith in him that he will come back from behind to win it and I was kind of reassuring myself not to loose that faith. It's very satisfying to see this next gen of Indian badminton players doing well on the World stage and I hope Lakshya's and Jolly/Gopichand's exploits motivates their team mates. I didn't cried happy tears yesterday but was jubilant, for Lakshya's win and arrogance's defeat. It was awesome and I was jumping with joy when the match ended. I just can't stand that arrogance and sense of entitlement, I am a crazy Rafa fan. PS. I always cry when Nadal wins a title specially the big one's and my family looks at me like I am crazy mad
Lakshya Sen -_________ “I’m happy that I got the crucial points. It’s a dream and now there’s one more match to go, so I will keep my focus and prepare for tomorrow. Towards the end I was just trying to play one point at a time and not thinking of other things, that I was about to make the final or anything like that. Those thoughts were coming in, but I was trying to stay focussed. “In the first game I got a good length and I was playing well from the net, I was getting some good lifts. Going into the third, I tried to play safe at the net, rather than going too close and giving easy points. I was prepared for a long match. “There’s one more match to go. Then I can say anything I want. For now, I’m focussed on one more match. All those times, when people said (good things about me), it gave me the belief that I can do well, that belief kept me going.” Lee Zii jia ________ Defending champion Lee marvelled at Sen’s control at the net, which, he said, made the difference. “He was very good with his net play on the last few points. I was prepared for a long match, but he’s very fit too and played at a high level.” Note: Thanks Dev Sukumar for your post @BWF FAN PAGE
Is it a pattern? Prakash Padukone won in 1980 and Pullela Gopichand won in 2001 , after 21 years. Now, it is exactly 21 years after Gopichand's win. Shall we expect another one?
I watched the replay of Sen vs LZJ again and Im so impressed with how Sen played in the end of G3, he could smell that victory was possible even at 16-18 down, he played in the rigth way in a close situation, like what Lin Dan used to do and nailed it in the end.
I felt the turning point in g3 was at 12-16. Lakshya felt it was now or never kinda situation for him, and apparently wanted to change gears. He upped the speed, and took initiatives at the net like a good attacking player would do. So what followed later was- Lakshya scored 9 points 1 unforced error (may be) from LZJ at 16-16 Rest of them were LS’s scoring points or forced errors LZJ scored 3 points 1 unforced error from LS at 15-16 1 good scoring point at 16-17 1 point that came out LS’s desperation to finish at 20-18 Seeing how LZJ could score only one point off his racket, and how LS scored vast majority of points since 16-12 in g3, I couldn’t accept when someone says match could have gone either way. Just my personal opinion PS- Overall, I still feel LZJ is better than LS. It felt like LZJ didn’t pace himself properly yesterday PPS- Morten didn’t make the observation that it could have gone either way. I fact-checked it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Agree with above. Sen played to win, while LZJ played to avoid losing. Somehow MAS players still have some major mental block under intense pressure. Sent from my SM-G988W using Tapatalk
It was a good run for Laksha at the All England. I think the loss today against Viktor Axelsen is okay for him because it's good experience for Laksha. Viktor made the finals of many Super Series but kept losing the final over and over again. At one point, Viktor was becoming the king of 2nd place. Viktor's breakthrough happened at the year end Dubai Super Series finals, where ironically, Tian Houwei and Viktor Axelsen both never won a Super Series before, so both were super nervous in the finals and made a lot of unforced errors. Despite both players playing badly in that Dubai finals, Viktor came out the winner and finally broke through and won his first Super Series. From there, Viktor learned to win more and more, leading up to his WC win, and then Olympic gold. Laksha is still young so he can learn from finals like this, just as Viktor did. Now Laksha knows the level you have to play to win a WC or Olympics.