Lakshya falters at final hurdle, settles for silver
BUENOS AIRES: Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen settled for silver after losing the men’s singles final against Chinese Li Shifeng in straight games at the Youth Olympics here.
Sen, the reigning junior Asian champion, lost 15-21, 19-21 in a 42-minute final. He had beaten Shifeng in straight games in the quarter-finals of the Asian Championships in July but on Friday evening, it was the turn of the Chinese to turn the tables on the 17-year-old.
In both the games, Shifeng led all through and Sen was playing catch-up, eventually failing to succeed.
In the first game, Shifeng took an early lead and raced to 14-5 in no time. Sen made a fine recovery to narrow down the gap to 13-16 but he could not sustain it and Shifeng went ahead 18-13 and then made it 20-14 to have six game points. Though Sen saved one, the Chinese won the next point to pocket the first game in 17 minutes.
The second game was a closer fight than the first but the Chinese was led all the time. Sen made a last-ditch effort to save the match by winning three straight points but Shifeng still made it 20-17 to have three match points.
Sen was still not throwing the towel as he reeled off two straight points to make it 19-20. But his Chinese opponent was a hard nut to crack as Shifeng won the final point to clinch the gold.
“He was very good and won the crucial points. I couldn’t push myself though I managed to prolong the inevitable,” said Sen. “But I am happy to be the second Indian (after HS Prannoy) to bring back a medal in badminton from such an elite championship.