Kumamoto [Japan], November 15 (ANI): Following his Japan Masters title win, Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen reflected on how his self-belief and confidence played a big role in his back-to-back title wins and has set his sights on a good showing at the Hong Kong Open to solidify his spot for the BWF World Tour Finals.
Lakshya continued his fine run at the BWF World Tour circuit this year, securing the Japan Masters title on Sunday. The Paris Olympics 2024 semifinalist beat Japan's Koki Watanabe 13-21, 21-18, 21-14 in 64 minutes in the final on Sunday, as per ESPN, fighting back from being one game down.
Speaking after the match, Lakshya said, "It feels really good to have won a title here, and last year I made it to the semifinals here. I am happy I could produce better results than last time. It is my second title (after Hylo Open), back-to-back, so I would love to continue this form ahead."
Lakshya dug deep, securing a win after losing the first game, saying that there was some wind in the stadium and he kept his confidence up in the second set and played his rallies.
"In the first rallies, I made some easy lifts, so he could smash the shuttle through me. In the second set and third set, I was trying to give a good length and also play a bit more attacking," he added.
On his aim of securing a top-eight spot in men's singles ranking to make it to the World Tour Finals, he said, "Definitely that is one thing which we will be fighting for. And yes, this tournament will definitely help me to get good points for that as well. I have one more tournament, the Hong Kong Open (from November 17), now focused on that."
Lakshya admitted that him being able to keep up his confidence and belief played a crucial role in his back-to-back wins.
"I would say just keeping my confidence up even though, there have been some tough matches. I started with a game down in many matches, but yeah, it was really good of me that I still kept believing in myself and just kept on playing and fighting," he added.
He defeated Indonesia's Alwi Farhan in a three-game semifinal to enter his second consecutive men's singles final at the Japan Masters Super 500 tournament on Saturday.
World No. 13 Lakshya registered a 21-12, 15-21, 21-11 victory over world No. 10 and sixth seed Farhan in the semifinal in Kumamoto, strengthening his chances of qualifying for the BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou. Sen recorded his first victory against Farhan, bringing their head-to-head score to 2-1.
The Indian shuttler, seeded eighth in the tournament, has been in good form after winning the Hylo Open title.
Lakshya defeated Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in straight games to clinch the men's singles title at the Hylo Open earlier this month. Lakshya registered a 21-17, 21-10 victory in the final, securing his seventh BWF World Tour title and his second Hylo Open crown.
Lakshya climbed eight places to reach the 10th spot in the race to the finals after securing the Hylo Open title earlier this month.
The Commonwealth Games champion has raised his chances of getting into the top eight with these two back-to-back title wins, entering the cut-off zone for the BWF World Tour Finals. The BWF Finals feature the top eight players/pairs across all disciplines and will take place this year from December 9 to 13 in China.
Last year at this event, Lakshya made it to the semifinals, losing to home favourite Kenta Nishimoto in three games. He also achieved a runners-up finish in the All England Open this year. (ANI)
After Japan Masters title, Lakshya Sen eyes Hong Kong Open success to solidify spot in BWF World Tour finals
