Lakshya Sen beats Li Shi Feng in the finals to clinch the 2023 Canada Open title

Indian ace shuttler Lakshya Sen roars back in form by winning the Canada Open Super 500 event by beating China’s Li Shi Feng in the finals. Sen won the title clash in straight games 21-18, 22-20 in a little less than an hour. Interestingly he saved four game points in the second game to claim an event after a long time.

Sen looked very solid on the day as he looked faster with his flat drives and also played some exceptional shots on the net to win his second Super 500 event after the India Open. This win will be a major motivation booster as he defeated the reigning All-England champion to claim this title.

The 21-year started with full conviction as he took a 6-2 lead in the first game. His aggressive gameplay allowed him to shield the lead until Shi Feng made it 15 all. However, Sen injected more pace whenever a loose shuttle came his way, showing his ability to collect points in clusters. Winning the opener gave him a major mental edge over the Chinese in the title clash.

However, the second game was even more intense than the first. This time Shi Feng started well and had a 20-16 lead. From there, Sen showed great tenacity as he forced Shi Feng to make errors and capitalized on them before hitting winners of his own. In no time, he had equalized and saved four game points before actually winning the game 22-20. This was a major indication of the youngster coming back to form after having a tumultuous year filled with challenges.

This was his first title since he won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. “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 winning the final.

He highlighted how it was tough to predict his opponent’s plans in the second game when he was trailing. So he remained patient and wanted to cover the lead. “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 stay patient and in the end, everything worked well,” he added.

This win will be a major confidence booster for the 21-year-old as he endured a tough time this year and also slipped down to World Number 19 due to his wavering form since the Commonwealth Games. Sen, who won the bronze at the World Championship in 2021 also underwent a nose surgery and he took a lot of time to recover from it.

With the Olympic qualification at stake, it is the perfect time for the youngster to roar back into form. Sen will now have to remain consistent in the upcoming events as it is a very busy year with the Hangzhou Asian Games also knocking at the door.