After winning the first game, Lakshya Sen saved four game points in the second to win the Canada Open Super 500 in Calgary on Sunday. The championship-winning six straight points he scored demonstrated the mental edge he had over Chinese Li Shifeng throughout the game, which he won 21-18, 22-20 in 50 minutes.
Sen seized the opening set with a 6-2 advantage and tenaciously held onto it even after Shifeng tied the score at 15 all. Sen injected energy into his returns and demonstrated the ability to gather points in a group, setting up winners each time a loose shuttle sailed his way. Sen immediately went on the attack with three quick points even when the score was 15 all to maintain the momentum. In a match when both players played at a demanding tempo of rallies, winning the first set gave him the mental advantage over Shifeng.
It once came to light that no lead was safe around Sen at the time he reached the All England finals. Sen made a joke of the 20-16 lead Shifeng rustled up in the second quarter, scoring six points largely in wins as the Chinese struggled to complete the game. This is a clear indication that Sen is ready to get back on track.
Coach Anup Sridhar reveals how his advice kept Lakshya Sen in the game:
Following the emphatic win, coach Anup Sridhar revealed that he kept telling Sen to take it one point at a time. Sridhar also recalled that the game was at a knife's edge when it was 20-all as the youngster could have lost it.
"Lakshya did not give up at 20-16. It is so easy to slip into that frame of mind that he’s won the first and can play the decider. But as coach I kept telling him one point at a time. He would’ve been alright had it gone to the third too, such is his physical fitness. But it was important once he got to 20-all he did not breathe a sigh of relief, because had he lost that game from there he would’ve been demoralised. He played those last two long rallies superbly, and sent the lifts higher which won him the match," Sridhar said, as quoted by The Indian Express.
Sen already had an excellent record against Li Shifeng and has now extended it further.
