Birmingham: India’s wait for an All England title goes into the 22nd year. But come Monday, the country will find itself other preoccupations. Lakshya Sen’s minimum 365-day wait for a shy at next year’s title in Birmingham, though, will feel like eons to him after Sunday’s scalding. Then youngster was properly decimated by the best player of the generation in the 21-10, 21-15 title win for Viktor Axelsen.
Prakash Padukone was 25 when he won the All England, Pullela Gopichand 27, so Sen at 22 will believe his time will come. Sen threw everything he had at his towering, solid opponent on the day. But the final threw into stark relief just how much more he needs to grow to nail down the title.
Two of India’s greatest shuttlers channelled their lifetime’s intensity and worship of the sport into trapping down this prize. Sen did well to make the final, and give a grand account of his defensive repertoire and bravery, a big heart too, though the man across the court held all the keys to Sunday’s final.
With a 6-0 juggernaut to start the match. Axelsen went for the lines from the drifty side and had the precision unlike Lee Jii Zia, who Sen had got the better of in Saturday’s semifinal. He had an attack that boomed and stung mightier than Anders Antonsen. The time to stop his attack was before his racquet got anywhere near the shuttle. Quite simply, Axelsen remained uncountable for most parts.
The Indian was starved off any manoeuvring at the net; he barely got a sniff of it in the opening game as he was kept busy moving from right to left, staring into the stoplights, and then suddenly summoned to the forecourt – all that lateral movement tangling his toes, and visibly staggering him once.