Rising star shuttler Lakshya Sen on Sunday clinched his maiden BWF World Tour title by winning the Dutch Open men’s singles title after beating Yusuke Onodera of Japan in the summit clash at Almere on Sunday.
The 18-year-old rallied from a game deficit to defeat his world No 160 opponent 15-21, 21-14, 21-15 in a final that lasted 63 minutes. The Dutch Open is a BWF World Tour Super 100 tournament.
In the opening game, Sen fell behind early on and could not erase the deficit, despite coming as close as 10-11 and 13-14. Onodera managed to keep his nose ahead and pocketed the opening game to earn the bragging rights.
The second game started on a competitive note with the pair trying to outwit each other. The Indian grabbed a 8-5 lead at one stage but the Japanese clawed his way back. Lakhsya again managed to move to 12-8 with four straight points. Onodera narrowed it down to 11-12 but Lakshya jumped to 18-11 and then roared back into the contest.
In the decider, Sen came up with a clear strategy and managed to keep his rival at a distance. He led 9-4 before making it 11-8 at the break.
After the interval, Lakshya continued to move ahead and slowly marched ahead to shut the door on Onodera.
Sen, currently ranked 72nd, had won the Belgian Open last month and reached the finals of Polish Open this year. He had also won the Asian Junior Championships, a silver at Youth Olympic Games and a bronze medal at World Junior Championships last year.