Lakshya Sen wins Canada Open for second BWF World Tour title

Lakshya Sen beat Li Shi Feng 21-18, 22-20 to win the Canada Open Super 500 in Calgary after saving four game points in the second. With six consecutive points, Lakshya Sen highlighted his mental toughness required in crunch situations against the reigning All England champion. The triumph is Lakshya’s second BWF World Tour title, with the first coming at the India Open in 2022. It is his first since the Commonwealth Games in August last year. Lakshya is the second Indian singles player to win a title this year after HS Prannoy had triumphed at the Malaysia Masters.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍 🏆😍

Lakshya defeated reigning All England winner 🇨🇳's Li Shi Feng to clinch the title 🔥💥

📸: @badmintonphoto#CanadaOpen2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton @lakshya_sen pic.twitter.com/4DIFquYoBK

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) July 10, 2023

Lakshya, who had undergone nose surgery for a deviated septum after the World Championships last August, has in the process continued his winning run past Shi Feng. The Indian had won at the Thailand Open last month to improve 4-2 on their head-to-head. “Coming into the Olympic qualification year, it was tough as things didn’t go my way. So this win will be a big boost to my confidence,” Sen told news agency PTI. “I had to dig deep in some matches, the conditions were different and getting used to it was important,” the ace shuttler said. Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya led 6-2 in the first game and never gave the lead away. Even as Li Shi Feng brought parity at 15-15, Lakshya remained on the attack and reeled off three quick points to keep the Chinese shuttler at arm’s length. Soon enough, he clinched the game with badminton being played at fierce pace laden with rallies.

Sometimes, the hardest battles lead to the sweetest victories. The wait is over, and I am delighted to be crowned the Canada Open winner! Grateful beyond words 🎉🏆 #SenMode #BWFWorldTour#CanadaOpen2023 pic.twitter.com/u8b7YzPX01

— Lakshya Sen (@lakshya_sen) July 10, 2023

In the second game, Li Shi Feng looked to have taken enough of a lead at 20-16 to near a deciding third. But as he’s shown time and again, no lead is safe around Sen. With mostly winners, Sen first forced Shi Feng into making mistakes and then did the job on his own with winners. As six points came and went, Lakshya Sen made good on his first BWF World Tour final appearance in 15 months. “It has been an amazing week for me. I got better as the event progressed, I got used to the conditions and played a good tactical game yesterday and today, so I am happy with my performance,” Sen said after sealing the title with a smash. “In the second game, it was quite difficult for me to predict anything as I was trailing all the way, so I just wanted to cover the lead. The key thing was to be stay patient and in the end, everything worked well.” Sen notched up his fifth win in seven meetings against the Chinese and has given a much-needed boost to his rankings after slipping to No 19 in the world. “He (Li) is a tough opponent, always expect a good match against him. The way I played today, I was dominating the net and he was also attacking. But I managed to win the crucial points,” Sen said.