Lakshya Sen in a file photo.
Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen bagged the gold medal after defeating Indonesia's top-seeded Kunlavut Vitidsaran in the final match of the Badminton Asia Junior Championship here on Sunday.
The 16-year-old thrashed his Indonesian opponent 21-19, 21-18 to win gold for the country at the mega-event after a gap of six years. Starting the game on a slow note, the Indian shuttler steadily built the momentum and kept his nerves intact to emerge victorious in the match.
As per the expectations, junior world number one Vitidsaran started the first game with some attacking moves and gained the initial lead of two points. Making a comeback, Sen collected two points in quick succession and soon the two locked horns at the score of 7-7.
A tight contest was witnessed between the two players with no one willing to give away the lead. Everybody was on their feet when both the players were at the score of 19-19. Ultimately, it was the Indian player who deceived his opponent with a wonderful drop and won the first game.
The second game started on a similar note with both the players battling hard to keep the lead. After the initial score of 4-4, Indian shuttler took the lead of three points but the Indonesian player made a strong comeback to make it 17-17 on the score table. Sen gained the 18th point at the crucial stage of the match and gave no chance to his opponent, after that.
The Indian shuttler created history by beating the top-seed 21-18 in the second game, thus clinching the championship.
On a related note, the Indian shuttlers who have won a medal at the Championship include Gautam Thakkar (Gold) in 1965, Pranav Chopra/Prajkta Sawant (Bronze) in 2009, Sameer Verma (Silver) and P.V. Sindhu (Bronze) in 2011, P.V. Sindhu (Gold) and Sameer Verma (Bronze) in 2012.
