Syed Modi International 2022: Lakshya Sen withdraws from tournament citing exhaustion

New Delhi: Newly-crowned India Open champion Lakshya Sen on Monday pulled out of the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament after feeling “exhausted” following his participation in back-to-back tournaments since October last year. The 20-year-old from Uttarakhand had stunned world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the finals to clinch his maiden Super 500 crown at the season-opening India Open on Sunday. “Since completing the India Open 2022 tournament in Delhi last night, I am feeling very exhausted and suffering from tiredness. In these circumstances, I am afraid I will not be able to do justice to my participation in the event,” Sen said in his letter to the organisers. “Therefore, after consulting my coaches, my physios and family, I have decided it would be best for me to withdraw from the Syed Modi International 2022 tournament so that I can take some much needed rest and recuperate, before I start training in earnest for the upcoming events from March onwards, he added. The youngster has competed in nine tournaments since October last year. He entered the finals of the Dutch Open, reached the semi-finals at Hylo and entered the knockout stage at World Tour Finals on debut before sizzling at the World Championships with a bronze last year. “My sincere apologies for the short notice to withdraw from the event. I trust you will understand my position and appreciate your support in this matter. I hope the tournament goes off smoothly, and I wish all participants, especially my fellow participants from India, all the very best in the event,” Sen added. A hectic season awaits Indian shuttlers with big-ticket events such as Commonwealth Games, Asian Games  lined-up this year apart from the regular BWF World Tour events, including the World Championships and All England Championships Sen, who had emulated his mentor Prakash Padukone by winning the World championship bronze in Huelva, Spain last month, will now look to claim the All England Championships in March. Top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also decided to give the Super 300 tournament a miss after becoming the first team from the country to win the India Open crown. Among other Indians, top seed Kidambi Srikanth, top women’s doubles player Ashwini Ponnappa and men’s doubles player Manu Attri have confirmed to PTI their withdrawal from the tournament. Srikanth, Ashwini and Attri were withdrawn from the India Open after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.