Lakshya Sen
New Delhi: For 21 minutes at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, Lakshya Sen found himself locked in an uncomfortable tussle against an invisible adversary. Faced with some tricky court conditions, where the drift made shot-making a guessing game, Lakshya initially looked unsettled against Austria's Collins Valentine Filimon. His strokes were not finding their intended targets, his timing was off and the Austrian made the most of Lakshya's discomfort to pocket the opening game. But Lakshya, who has built his game around patience, movement and the ability to stay in a rally long enough, didn't panic. On Tuesday, that temperament came to the fore as the Indian turned a difficult opening into a commanding 16-21, 21-8, 21-4 victory in 45 minutes in the first round of the ongoing BWF World Championships. The transformation was striking. From being tentative and unable to control the shuttle on the windy side of the court, Lakshya gradually began to dictate the terms. He slowed the exchanges down, engaged Filimon in longer rallies and stopped trying to force the pace with sheer power. As the second game progressed, Lakshya began to look increasingly assured. His footwork became sharper, his defensive retrievals more purposeful and his strokes began to open up the court. Once he found his rhythm, Filimon had few answers. The second and third games were not merely a reflection of Lakshya's superior shot-making. It was also a statement of his mental reset. Once he understood how the drift was behaving, he stopped fighting the court and started using it as part of his strategy. If Lakshya's comeback was built on experience and adjustment, Unnati Hooda's women's singles opening-round win was an exercise in composure. The 18-year-old had to navigate her own share of nerves and uncertainty against Myanmar's Thet Htar Thuzar. The opening game was a tight contest, with neither player willing to give much away. Unnati edged it 22-20 and then found enough control to close out the second 21-16, completing a 40-minute victory.
For India, the day also brought a mixed bag across the doubles draws. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand beat 16th seeded American pair of Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee 21-15, 21-12 in 39 minutes and advance to the pre-quarterfinals. Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi, however, were beaten 7-21, 14-21 by Bulgarian sisters Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva in 39 minutes. In mixed doubles, Ashith Surya and Amruth Pramuthesh were involved in one of the day's longest battles before going down to Turkey's Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas 21-16, 29-30, 22-24 in 71 minutes. Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde also bowed out after a spirited fight against Canada's Jonathan Lai and Crystal Lai, losing 22-20, 19-21, 17-21 in 68 minutes.
