Lakshya Sen needs to know his defense isn’t just dazzling, but dependable too

Antonsen looks perpetually restless to the casual watcher, but his resilient crippled is reliable. But what brought Sen down were aged refrains. Almost breached grounds reels. A 5-point lapse of concentration, taking the ft disconnected the pedal from 13-11 to 13-16, which remains a enigma successful his game. The grief-giving benignant of mystery, not an enchanting one. 11-8 up, Sen was comfortably catching the Dane connected his acold forehand with neatly effectual down-the-line smashes. But each it took for Antonsen to crook the tables was drafting Sen into longer rallies, which frustrated the Indian nary end.

It’s a funny lawsuit due to the fact that Sen is not debased connected endurance. He posts immoderate of the champion numbers successful each metrics that harvester towards stamina, truthful he’s not debased connected fuel. He has the antiaircraft mettle to past those rallies, helium tin run, helium tin anticipate, the dilatory courts really assistance not enactment excessively overmuch unit connected his defence and helium is simply a tremendously intelligent shuttler, 1 of the world’s smartest successful speechmaking his opponents. At times you wonder, successful fact, if helium enjoys defensively dazzling spells excessively overmuch and unnecessarily prolongs rallies, conscionable due to the fact that helium can.

Indian badminton subordinate Lakshya Sen. (FILE)

But each grounds points to him getting greatly annoyed erstwhile his hostile hunkers down and defends doggedly (not arsenic spectacularly arsenic him, but matching him connected enactment rate), and past the patience snaps, and Sen gives it each away.

It happened successful the 2nd acceptable connected Friday erstwhile Sen was a acceptable down and trailed Antonsen 7-10. He gave it his everything to contradict the Dane the mid-set lead, but 7-11 was an close microcosm of what ever goes incorrect with Sen. The Indian was successful power of the rally alright, adjacent erstwhile it extended. But Antonsen – due to the fact that it’s his occupation to reason arsenic hostile – got stuck in, and started defending reasonably brilliantly himself. Antonsen was hardly clinging on, pushed to antithetic places connected the tribunal demanding debased retrieves 1 aft another. Sen yet pinned him connected the near of the court, vastly retired of presumption to scope thing that helium would nonstop to the right. Imagine an unfastened extremity successful football, with his favourite goalkeeper Ederson wholly retired of the frame. Why past would you purpose for the close sideline and smash wholly wide?

As his begetter and coach, DK Sen approached him astatine mid-set interval, Lakshya could lone wryly grin and shingle his head. An 8-10 would work precise antithetic from 7-11. He had conscionable constructed the constituent admirably well, truthful determination was nary occupation with his spot oregon the encephalon smarts oregon strategy. But Sen botched it truthful sensationally that you could consciousness a assurance situation from a 1000 miles away. Also, the impetuous unreserved of humor – to overdo the smash, arsenic an almighty merchandise due to the fact that Antonsen had frustrated him greatly.

But it wasn’t the lone time.

India’s Lakshya Sen during the Men’s Singles Semifinal badminton lucifer against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen astatine the 2024 Summer Olympics, successful Paris, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)

As the lucifer careened towards a loss, Sen started smashing wildly missing the lines. He bushed Jonatan Christie astatine the Olympics and volition bushed Antonsen and Shi Yuqi successful the future, but there’s thing to beryllium said astir their subject successful controlling the smash-kill truthful it doesn’t rotation retired of bounds.

In a antithetic sport, but Indian tennis subordinate Karan Rastogi who sparred with Maria Sharapova astatine the Bollettieri academy had erstwhile spoken astir however the glamour queen of tennis, would spot a coin connected the tribunal adjacent the lines, and purpose 500 shots astatine it, without stopping. Just to get the subject successful of hitting the aforesaid spot. Those indispensable person been highly unglamorous grooming sessions, but they stopped elevated bosom rates, that spot an opening, a wide bare court, from hashing a regular smash winner.

Indians person watched Kidambi Srikanth spray smashes with increasing consternation, and the talented Priyanshu Rajawat misses those plentifulness too. But erstwhile Lakshya Sen falls isolated with callous smashes, you statesman to question the grit, due to the fact that helium came agonisingly adjacent to the Olympic medal, and volition find himself successful these situations again. The 13-11 to 13-16 ft disconnected the pedal is simply a deeper malaise. But the bungled smash astatine 7-11 has easier solutions, rooted successful intelligence discipline.

Frankly, the unreserved of humor and hyper-aggression mightiness not adjacent beryllium an close diagnosis, and his coaches cognize better. As with Srikanth, Sen astir apt gets terrified that if helium doesn’t spell for the lines and support the shuttle arsenic acold distant arsenic possible, Antonsen mightiness someway retrieve it and prolong the rally. But backing himself to beryllium capable to combat erstwhile much adjacent if the hostile does scope the shuttle, is the lone mode to not effort the rash smash, adjacent successful a non-desperate situation. Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn has struck consistency solely connected acing these.

Lakshya Sen needs to cognize his defence isn’t conscionable dazzling, but dependable too. It’s the lone mode to find composure erstwhile helium attacks.