Pullela Gopichand once said, “When your legs don’t allow you to play, you must play with your heart.”Lakshya Sen took it seriously during the semi-final win over Victor Lai. And despite his loss to Lin Chun-Yi in the All England final on Sunday, Lakshya’s exploits throughout the week will constitute a special chapter in Indian badminton.
Lakshya’s mentor Vimal Kumar was impressed by her intention. “Lakshya couldn’t inject his usual pace at the beginning and seemed a bit slow in his movements,” Vimal told TOI. “But what impressed me the most was his intent: he kept pushing and fighting for every point. That resilience has been the biggest positive in his game all week,” Vimal said, adding that muscle fatigue slowed him down in the final.“It’s a tough loss, but a very brave effort. Lakshya had a real chance to win the second game. However, muscle fatigue meant he couldn’t finish rallies with his strokes, the stroke just wasn’t there at the time. Despite that, he defended himself magnificently against one of the most attacking players in world badminton,” Vimal said.All this after the fall at the Paris Olympics, where Lakshya missed out on a medal from a winning position. His father and his first coach, DK Sen, recounted that painful moment. “It was the most painful moment for us. But we believe in God and he decides when to give and what to give, we are still waiting for that moment,” Sen told TOI.Vimal made sure Lakshya had a strong team and it showed in the results as Lakshya won the Australian Open last year and came close to the title on Sunday. “The Korean coach, with his demanding methods, along with a good physiotherapist, trainer and strength and conditioning coach and of course the constant guidance of his father, the coach, have played an important role in helping him get out of that phase,” said Vimal.