Indonesia Open 2024: India's campaign draws to a close as Lakshya Sen loses to Anders Antonsen 

After a rollercoaster ride in the men's singles quarter-finals, India's campaign at the Indonesia Open has drawn to a close, with Lakshya Sen losing out to Denmark's Anders Antonsen. The duo fought for over an hour, before the tall Dane smashed his way to victory.

Coming into this quarter-finals, Sen dominated Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama and Kenta Nishimoto in his opening rounds. The match with Nishimoto was indeed a thing of beauty, with the Indian dismantling the Japanese World No.12’s attack from the inside out.

Going into this clash at the Indonesia Open, the match truly could have gone either way. Antonsen held a narrow 3-2 lead in the head-to-head between the two players, and fans were eager to see Sen close the gap.

The first game started with shuttles blazing, and the Dane was quick to establish an early lead, only for the Indian to make a thumping comeback. This is exactly the story that would continue for the rest of the game, with the duo exchanging leads back and forth before Antonsen saved three game points to seal the deal 24-22.

Game two had Indian fans cheering and roaring at the beginning, with Lakshya establishing an early 6-2 lead. The lead slimmed down to 11-8 by the time of the interval, and Antonsen evened the score at 14-14. Sen once again lept ahead on the scoreboard, only for the Dane to hunt him down and finish him off 21-18.

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Indonesia Open 2024: Lakshya Sen's defense the highlight of a lukewarm Indian campaign

India's outing at the 2024 Indonesia Open was a forgettable ordeal, with PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy losing out in opening rounds, and Ashwini/Tanisha and Treesa/Gayatri failing to make it past the round of 16.

However, in this somewhat bleak showing, Lakshya Sen's defense in his game against Kenta Nishimoto was a brilliant ray of hope. The young Indian marked himself out as a renewed threat to watch out for in Paris, diving with ease in court to retrieve the steepest of smashes, leaving his opponents disheartened.

Sen's coach, Vimal Kumar, compared the shuttler to tennis legend Rafael Nadal, telling Indian Express after the game against Nishimoto:

“He’s now conditioned to it, so his reactions are better. It’s like Nadal, he soaks up attacks and then counters.”

Fans will likely get to see Lakshya Sen's deadly defense in action next at the Australian Open scheduled between June 11 and 16.