Lakshya Sen, the world No. 11 player, lost in the All England Open final to former champion and World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen.
Lakshya Sen loses to Axelsen
The Olympic champion jumped up to a 6-0 lead in the first game. The World No. 1 entered the deep corners of Lakshya’s side with his hold and flick shots, forcing him to lift most of the time and providing him the opportunity to finish with his massive signature smashes as the Indian ace attempted to lengthen the rallies to fatigue his opponent.
The Indian, on the other hand, sought to keep the game alive with his tenacious defense, but the Danish ace was too good to surrender. Axelsen had an eleven-point lead going into the game. The Indian tried to keep his opponent from taking a decisive advantage, but he couldn’t hold out for much longer, and Viktor won the game 21-10.
Viktor’s dominance continued in the second game. Lakshya attempted to take the initiative by counter-attacking. However, he was too passive against Axelsen’s steep strokes, and with each point he played, he ran out of replies.
At 11-6 at halftime, the Dane had racked up a slew of scores. He tended to keep a point edge on Sen, making it impossible for Sen to catch up. At 20-12, he finally had eight match points.
Viktor clinched the championship point and won the game 21-10, 21-15, despite Lakshya saving three match points. He earned his second All England title and fourth All England Open final in a row with this victory.
Other Players
Akane Yamaguchi, the former World No. 1 and defending world champion, won her maiden All England Open championship in the tournament’s second final. She faced South Korean An Se-young and got the win in two straight games, 21-15, 21-15.
In their first appearance at the tournament, Muhammad Fikri and Bagas Maulana won their first All England Open title. Former winners Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan were upset in two straight games by the duo, 21-19, 21-13.
Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan won the women’s doubles title for the fourth time, becoming the fourth different Japanese team to do so. China’s Zhang Shuxian and Zhang Yu were up against the duo. They took the All England Open in two games, 21-13 and 21-9.
Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino claimed the All England Open for the third time. The reigning champions were in their third final appearance in this competition. Both of them successfully defended their Super 1000 titles, following in the footsteps of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia, who won the tournament three times.
