NEW DELHI: Lakshya Sen seems to be in a good mental space at the moment. There was a certain glow in his face after a tidy performance in the ongoing India Open here on Thursday. A second win overall in the Super 750 meet that sealed him a spot in the quarterfinals is a good sign and the 24-year-old can sense it.
Having spent large parts of the 2025 season in mediocrity, Lakshya has had to dig deep in order to find solutions. Since the end of last term, he gradually seems to be regaining his powers. Thursday's 21-19, 21-10 victory over Kenta Nishimoto was another indicator that he's gradually regaining his foothold. More importantly, the Almora shuttler, who finished off the 2025 season with the Australian Open title, seems to be enjoying what he's doing. That's a stark contrast to his struggles not so long ago when his post-match conferences would seem like a funeral service. A phase when badminton seemed to be the source of his pain.
"It was important to win the Australian Open and I would like to continue that form. I'm in a much better space. Definitely, in terms of my game. I'm enjoying badminton much more," Lakshya told reporters after his win on the day.
After taking time to warm to the occasion, Lakshya started dictating terms before keeping up the intensity level in the second game.
"I was just trying to focus, get one point at a time. I didn't get the rhythm in the beginning but towards the end I was feeling good on court. After the 11th point, I changed the tactics because he was playing solid and I had to stick in there to get points. There were no easy points coming from his side," he said.
Lakshya's win proved to be a saving grace for the hosts as men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made a surprise exit, after losing a hard-fought match against Japanese pairing of Kyohei Yamashita and Hiroki Midorika. The usually-reliable Indians, who have made a habit of competing for podium finishes on regularity, were involved in a gruelling fight against the Japanese opponents. It was a see-saw battle throughout the match that lasted 73 minutes late in the evening. It was a similar tale for the women's combination of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand who suffered a three-game loss (20-22, 24-22, 23-21) against Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min of China, who are ranked World No 8.
Kidambi Srikanth (men's singles), the first Indian to enter the court on the day, put up a spirited fight but ended up on the losing side too. HS Prannoy (men's singles) suffered a similar fate and so did Malvika Bansod. Men's doubles pairing of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also lost. India will be hoping that Lakshya can maintain his happy run in the event.