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Published 14:28 IST, November 4th 2019

Lakshya Sen: All about India's new 18-year-old badminton sensation

Lakshya Sen clinched the SaarLorLux Open title, defeating Weng Hong Yang 17-21 21-18 21-16. The 18-year-old continues his stellar 2019, claiming his 3rd title.

Reported by: Sreehari Menon
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Indian badminton prodigy Lakshya Sen continues his meteoric rise after clinching yet another BWF Super 100 title on Sunday. Sen defeated China’s Weng Hong Yang in the summit clash of the SaarLorLux Open. Lakshya won the contest, 17-21 21-18 21-16, after being a set down in a thriller that lasted 59 minutes. The victory means this is his 3rd successive singles title, as he continues to bask on his good form in 2019.

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Lakshya Sen Claims SaarLorLux Open Title

Lakshya Sen came into the game with a 1-2 record against his Chinese opponent, but that meant nothing to Sen as he showed tremendous grit and put on a show for the crowd at the Saarlandhalle in Saarbrucken. The youngster was taken by surprise in the first set as he lost it despite leading 14-11 at one stage. He then upped his game to comfortably take the game to the decider, where he trumped Hong Yang after trailing 13-16.

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Lakshya Sen: Making the most of his form

Lakshya Sen will enter the Top 50 when the BWF Men's Singles World Rankings will be released on Tuesday. The 18-year-old has been in tremendous form in the past couple of years, winning the Asian Junior Championship, a silver at the Youth Olympics, and a bronze at the World Junior Championship last year. He continued his impressive form in the senior circuit, clinching the Belgian International Challenge and the Dutch Open Super Tour 100, while also reaching the Polish Open Finals in 2019.

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Lakshya Sen: One for the future

Lakshya’s rise has been tremendous and he’s already been marked as one for the future. The maturity in his game seems to be well beyond his age and his eagerness to take the game by the scruff of the neck are qualities that earmark him as one of the greatest talents. He won both the Dutch Open and the SaarLorLux Open being a set down, which takes some doing for a player of his inexperience. Sen would look to make most of his good form in the upcoming tournaments and keep raising the bar for himself. He is likely to take part in the Irish Open and the Scottish Open, both of which are International Challenge events. He will then feature in the Syed Modi International Super 300 which kicks off in late November.  

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Updated 18:51 IST, November 4th 2019

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