Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen on Tuesday pulled off an easy win over compatriot Ayush Shetty in the opening round of the India Open, beating the latter 21-12, 21-15 to set up a clash against
Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto.
Lakshya came into the contest as the favourite, having beaten Ayush on both occasions they met on tour before.
Lakshya bagged an early lead in the contest, leading 7-1, as Ayush looked intimidated by the constant shot-making from his senior pro. The former won the first game quickly, bagging it 21-12.
Ayush put up a better show in the second game, going neck-to-neck with Lakshya and also bagged a slim 11-10 lead at the interval.
But after the break, Lakshya came back stronger and didn’t give many opportunities to Ayush to make a comeback, sailing to a 21-15 win.
Playing at a new arena, with the stadium all set to host the BWF World Championships later this year, Lakshya said that the conditions were a bit unexpected.
“Conditions were a bit tricky. It was our first match at this venue, so we did not expect it to be so challenging, but I think things will improve from the second round. We felt the hall was quite big, so we assumed the shuttle would be a little slower, but it was actually quite fast, with some sideways drift as well,” Lakshya said while speaking to the media after his win.
“That said, in the first round, you always have to adapt to whatever conditions you’re given,” Lakshya added. He would take on Nishimoto on Thursday, with their H2H at 3-all.
Their last encounter at the Kumamoto Masters last year resulted in Nishimoto winning in three games.
“I had a pretty poor start and Lakshya was controlling the shuttle really well. The shuttles were much faster today compared to yesterday. I ended up giving him a big lead early on,” Ayush admitted.
Asked if he felt the crowd was partisan towards ‘home favourite’ Lakshya, Ayush said with a grin, “I did have some support, so that wasn’t the reason I lost.”
/images/ppid_a911dc6a-image-176820283049710139.webp)
