Last week, Satwik and Chirag were in the semi-finals of the Super 1000 meet in Malaysia. This week, there are no Indians in the quarter-finals
-Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
In a game like badminton, there come moments on which hinge the fate of the match. Just one point, of so many, which has to be won to make an impact. If that is lost, out go your chances. In Lakshya Sen’s disappointing exit from the pre-quarterfinals of the India Open Super 750 event, that moment came thrice.
One game all and trailing 1-8 and then 8-14 against Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke in the decider, Lakshya staged a gallant fightback and made it 13-14. One more point and he would have been level. Needless to say, it would have been a massive boost for him and demoralising for his opponent. But an attempted lob went too deep and Gemke saw his slender lead increase again.
The Indian seventh seed came across that moment again at 17-18. He was once again a point from drawing level and this time too, his attempt to fox Gemke was too deep. Not giving in, Lakshya snatched the service back and at 18-19, had another chance to get back on level terms. This time, luck smiled on the Dane. His shot hit the net cord and fell unkindly for Lakshya, who miscued another shot on Gemke’s game point. Lakshya lost 21-16, 15-21, 18-21.
It completed a heartbreaking day for India after title contenders Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pulled out of the men’s doubles pre-quarters due to an injury to the former. The Chinese pair they were up against had lost to them in an extraordinary match in Malaysia last week. And these two were perhaps India’s biggest hope in this competition. But it emerged in the afternoon that Satwik has suffered a hip injury. It’s not that serious, but may take 2-3 weeks to heal completely.
“It’s disappointing. I thought I had started well. But my plans did not work after that,” said Lakshya who was the aggressor in the first game, pushing Gemke deep towards the backhand side and landing smashes from time to time to which his opponent had no answer. “But in the second and third games, his strategy worked better than mine. Also, I missed a few shots which I should not have. I was bit unlucky as well. For example, that net cord at that stage of the match,” he said.
“Going 1-8 down in the decider is not acceptable. I played well to cover up but it was not enough. I think a few decisions went here and there and also, I could have played more bravely in the end, but made a silly error at 18-20,” said Lakshya. “It is hard to take, I was this close. I am feeling really bad about the last point. I was trying something new because my strategy was not working but I should have played with more patience.”
All other Indians in the Round of 32 — Saina Nehwal, the women’s doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Trissa Jolly and the men’s doubles team of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Panjala — suffered defeats. So the first-ever Super 750 event in the country ended on an unsavoury note for the India. Last week, Satwik and Chirag were in the semi-finals of the Super 1000 meet in Malaysia. This week, there are no Indians in the quarter-finals.