File photo of Lakshya Sen.© AFP
India’s Lakshya Sen delivered a dominant performance, outplaying rising French star Alex Lanier in straight games to finish third at the inaugural King Cup International Badminton Open on Sunday. The 23-year-old from Almora defeated Lanier 21-17 21-11, securing a handsome prize purse of around Rs. 36 lakh. Lakshya had earlier lost in the semifinals to reigning world junior champion Hu Zhe’an of China, going down 19-21 19-21 in a closely contested match on Saturday.
In the third place play-off, Lakshya started strong, taking a 6-1 lead, but Lanier fought back to level the score at 10-10, eventually gaining a one-point advantage at the interval.
However, Lakshya regained control to move ahead 18-15 and grabbed three game points before sealing the opening game when Lanier went wide.
After the break, Lakshya continued with the momentum, establishing an 8-6 lead and quickly extending it to 15-8. He gained nine match points and wrapped up the victory when Lanier sent a shot long.
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