Lakshya Sen fought hard before losing to Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-13, 17-21, 13-21 in the men's singles semifinals of the Thailand Open BWF Super-500 in Bangkok on Saturday.
The 21-year-old won the first game effortlessly and was leading 17-15 in the second before Vitidsarn changed the complexion of the game by adopting an aggressive approach. He fired two smashes to draw level with Lakshya. The momentum shifted in favour of Vitidsarn, who scored the next point with another fast-paced rally.
Thereafter, Vitidsarn grew in confidence while Lakshya started making mistakes. From 15-17, Vitidsarn scored six straight points to push the contest into the decider. In the third game, Lakshya secured an early lead at 10-6. But after the change of courts Vitidsarn dominated the game. From 14-12, he came up with a six point burst and gave no chance for Lakshya to make a comeback.
Despite the loss, Lakshya gave a good account of himself and would be very happy with his performance. After a splendid show in 2022, Lakshya lost his rhythm due to injuries. With this performance Lakshya got his confidence back and would look to improve upon this performance. In the final, Vitidsarn will face Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong, who defeated Toma Popov of France 21-14, 21-16.
