Picture : Twitter/ ANI
India shuttler Lakshya Sen added to his illustrious list of achievements in 2022 by winning an elusive gold at the Commonwealth Games 2022, when he defeated Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia 19-21, 21-9, 21-16 in the men’s singles badminton final.
Lakshya Sen started off confidently, racing to an 8-5 lead before Tze Yong won four straight points to forge ahead 9-8. A service fault from the Indian gave the Malysian a freebie and a 11-9 lead at the break.
Sen kept himself in the contest, scoring a cross-court winner despite broken strings on the racket to make it 10-12. Both players battled hard and long for each point. A cracking forehand cross-court winner saw Lakshya level the score at 18-18.
He then left everyone gasping as he lunged to his right and somehow managed to get the shuttle wide of NG for a valuable point. But Sen’s misjudgement helped NG snatch the first game 21-19.
The second game followed the same script as NG stayed ahead for an 8-6 lead. However, Sen staged a brilliant turnaround, winning 15 of the next 16 points to clinch the second game 21-9 and level the match score 1-1.
The momentum was firmly with Sen in the decider as he opened a big gap to race to 8-4.
A superb crosscourt off the forehand and some stunning defence work saw NG marrow the gap to 6-9 before Sen played a few cracking shots to stretch the lead to 11-7 at the break.
After the cross-over Sen was in no mood to relent as he extended his lead to 15-9, 19-16 before closing out the match 21-16.
Sen’s heroics were lauded soon
President Droupadi Murmu
The young and energetic Lakshya Sen makes India proud! Congratulations on winning the badminton gold at #CommonwealthGames. The way you bounced back with a commanding display symbolises a bold new India that is determined to win. You make our tricolour go up again at Birmingham.
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 8, 2022
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Elated by the accomplishment of @lakshya_sen. Congratulations on winning the Gold medal in Badminton. He’s played excellently through the CWG and showed outstanding resilience during the Finals. He is India’s pride. Best wishes to him for his future endeavours. #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/1b5elEPbHM
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 8, 2022
