The Indian problem on the Thailand Open ended after star shuttler Lakshya Sen misplaced a tricky three-game males’s singles semifinal in opposition to Thailand’s second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn right here on Saturday The 21-year-old from Almora regarded in management within the first recreation in opposition to his seeded opponent however misplaced his manner because the match progressed to ultimately go down 21-13 17-21 13-21 in a contest that lasted one hour and quarter-hour.
Kunlavut will subsequent play the winner of the opposite semifinal between Hong Kong’s eighth seed Cheuk Yiu Lee and Toma Junior Popov of France.
Lakshya had entered the semifinal for the primary time this season, having come shut in Indonesia Masters, the place he exited within the quarterfinals.
His rating has dropped all the way down to 23 from a career-high sixth as a result of a string of below-par performances this yr.
It was neck-and-neck between the 2 shuttlers initially within the first recreation earlier than Lakshya surged to 11-
6 lead on the break.
The Thai got here out robust after the break and received 4 straight factors to scale back the result in 11-10. However Lakshya upped his recreation simply on the nick of time to take a 5 level lead and the closed down the opening recreation fairly simply with out giving any probability to his opponent.
The second recreation was fought on a fair keel between the 2 gamers as they matched one another until 10 factors earlier than Kunlavut used his cross-court smashes to take a slender 12-10 lead for the primary time within the match.
The Indian, nonetheless, pressured his manner with the assistance of lengthy rallies and exact drop pictures because the battle continued between the 2 gamers.
However Kunlavut raised his recreation a couple of notches and pocketed 4 straight factors to win the second recreation and take the match into decider.
Within the decider, the momentum initially shifted in Kunlavut’s favour as he raced to a 5-2 lead however Lakshya clawed his away again as the 2 gamers fought tooth and nail.
The lengthy rallies lastly took a toll on the Indian, who regarded drained as the ultimate recreation progressed, handing Kunlavut a considerable 18-12 lead after which Thai closed down the decider fairly simply.