Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen overcame early jitters to prevail over Collins Valentine Filimon of Austria in three games to progress to the second round of the men’s singles event at the BWF World Championships here on Tuesday.
Sen started slowly as his less-fancied opponent kept him on his toes in the first game. Sen pulled some points back, but the Romania-born shuttler kept his calm by keeping the shuttle on court and drawing errors from the Indian to pocket the first game against the run of play. The Indian duo started confidently, taking an aggressive approach from the outset. Jolly was the aggressor, using her powerful smashes to finish points, while Gayatri kept the shuttle in play and found success with her deft drop shots as the pair comfortably pocketed the opening game.
Sen will next play the US’s Garret Tan, who defeated Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi 21-4, 21-15. The star Indian shuttler struggled to find his footing as the score went neck-and-neck before he lost six straight points, courtesy of some sloppy play and unforced errors, to trail 12-17. In the second game, both shuttlers were locked at 7-7 before the Indian pulled up his socks to take an 11-8 lead with his attacking game. There was no stopping Sen from there on as he kept up his aggressive game, forcing numerous unforced errors from Filimon to take the upper hand in the match at 15-1 and then seal the contest with consummate ease. The Indian combination started the second game in the same vein and raced to an 11-4 lead at the break.
