Lakshya Sen outclassed Japan’s Yushi Tanaka in straight games, winning 21-15, 21-11 to be crowned as the Australian Open 2025 (S500) men’s singles champion at Sydney’s Quaycentre.
Overall, this is the third Super 500 BWF World Tour title for the 2021 World Championship bronze medallist after his victories in the India Open 2022 and the Canada Open 2023. The triumph in Sydney is also his first title since the 2024 Syed Modi S300 in Lucknow last year.
The 24-year-old from Almora, becomes only the second Indian to win a BWF World tour title in 2025 after Ayush Shetty’s US Open victory in June.
With this, Sen becomes only the second Indian man and third overall after Kidambi Srikanth (2018) and Saina Nehwal (2014, 2016) to claim the Australian Open title.
Facing each other for the first time ever, the summit clash match began with a Yushi Tanaka smash to the right backcourt and an error while trying to trick Sen. Both traded a few points before Sen won a 35-shot long rally, clutched with sharp placements. He won four straight points to lead 11-8 at the mid-game interval. In the latter part, with his defensive skills, Sen pushed Yushi into longer rallies and forced errors which worked perfectly, and he finished the game with four straight points to win 21-15.
In the second game, it was Sen who led initially, capitalising on Yushi’s unforced errors as the Japanese tried to force his opponent to the corner and lines, but ended up making mistakes in execution. The Indian looked calm and composed and produced a few heavy smashes to lead 11-5 at the interval.
After the break, Sen made Tanaka clueless with his deft returns and sharper placements which saw the former making net errors and hitting outside the lines in desperation. Consolidating on the momentum, Sen extended the lead to 20-10, reaching match point. Tanaka saved only one match point and Sen sealed the game with a smash on the left corner of the front court, winning his first title of the season.
After multiple first round and semi-finals exits, the spirited Sen ended his 2025 season on a high with a title to his name. Sen has opted out of the Syed Modi S300 tournament, scheduled from next week in Lucknow. The Indian also missed out on qualifying for the BWF World Tour Final, but there’s a lot to look forward to in the next season, including the Asian Games and the World Championships.
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