Lakshya Sen beats Kunlavut Vitidsarn to win Asian Junior Championship title

Lakshya Sen beats Kunlavut Vitidsarn to win Asian Junior Championship title

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Lakshya Sen clinched the Badminton Asian Junior Championships title after overcoming the challenge of top-seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn in Jakarta on Sunday. The 16-year old defeated Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-19 21-18 to become the third Indian shuttler to win singles gold at the competition.

India's Sixth Seed Lakshya Sen stunned World no. 1 Kunlavut Vitidasaran of Thailand to win the final 21-19, 21-18. With this, he became only the third player from India to claim the Asian junior championship title after Gautam Thakkar and Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu. Sen held his nerves throughout the game and managed to get the better of his opponent, in a match which was tightly poised.

Sen claimed the first game 21-19 and put the pressure on early on Kunlavut, who was giving tough competition to Indian sixth seed. The second game was also close just like the first game. Both were equal at 14-14 but the Indian star won the game 21-18 to win the tournament. Earlier, Sen was defeated fourth seed Indonesia's Ikhasan Leonardo Emanuel Rumbe 21-7, 21-14 in the semi-finals while the Thai star had entered the final after defeating China's third seed Yepeng Bei 21-14, 21-12 in the second semi-final. 

The 16-year-old, who won the bronze medal in 2016, dropped just one game in the entire competition and what stood out in the tournament was the youngster’s confidence against his last three opponents, all of whom were ranked higher than the ninth ranked Indian in the world junior rankings.

The last male shuttler to win gold at the Asian Junior Championships was Gautam Thakkar in 1965. Sixth-seeded Lakshya, who stunned second seed Li Shifeng in quarterfinals, saw off Ikhsan Rumbay of Indonesia 21-7, 21-14 on the fourth day of the individual events to reach the summit clash. The other Indian shuttlers who have won a medal at Badminton Asia Championship include Pranav Chopra/Prajkta Sawant (Bronze) in 2009, Sameer Verma (Silver) and P.V. Sindhu (Bronze) in 2011, and Sameer Verma (Bronze) in 2012.

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