Lakshya Sen after All England Open runner-up finish
The wait for another men’s singles champion at the All England continues but after what Lakshya Sen produced in Birmingham last week, the wait feels shorter than ever. Sen walked away with a runner-up finish, going down 21-15, 22-20 to Lin Chun Yi of Chinese Taipei in Sunday’s final. But the scoreline only tells half the story. The Indian shuttler had spent the better part of five gruelling days on court, grinding through long three-set battles, fighting off cramps and blisters in the semifinals, and still walking out for the final with everything he had left. The week began with what Sen himself described as feeling like a final before the tournament had even truly started a first-round clash against world number one Shi Yuqi. He won. Then came Angus Ng Ka Long, Li Shi Feng, and Victor Lai, each match longer and more physical than the last. “Right from day one, there were long matches,” Sen said while addressing the media in a virtual press interaction facilitated by BAI, “and eventually the muscles got …
