India's former chief national coach Vimal Kumar was left disappointed by Lakshya Sen's early exit at the BWF World Championships in Delhi on August 19. Sen lost 21-19, 19-21, 17-21 to American teenager, world no.92 Garret Tan in a match that lasted 73 minutes. Tan did not expect himself to beat Tan and had already booked his return ticket on Friday (August 21). But, the former world junior no.1 shuttler may have to cancel his return ticket.
While Tan scripted history with his biggest senior badminton win yet, Sen's loss was tough to digest for Vimal who accused the Indian for letting the opponent dictate the outcome of the match.
“There was also very little initiative to get underneath the shuttle and play attacking, downward shots,” Vimal told India Today. “He was too passive and allowed the opponent to dictate the rallies...
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“Even the basic lifts from the net to the back court lacked confidence. He did not look confident enough to sustain rallies without making mistakes, and that put him under unnecessary pressure.
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“Overall, he looked very ordinary today. This is a match he should have won.”
After losing the first game, at 11-9 in the second, Tan was told to be patient. He turned the game around to forced a third game. In the third game, he was leading by 8-2 when the home crowd backed Lakshya with chants. The teenager admitted that he felt the heat and it led to Lakhsya making it 10-12 from 4-12. After a medical timeout, Tan had four match points and eventually won 21-17 to pull off an upset.
How Tan’s first coach helped him
Tan got support from his first coach, Paula Lynn, who had lost to India's Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly in the women's doubles match. She and Lauren Lam told Tan to be calm and patient instead of rushing things. In addition, they helped him tactically as well during breaks. They told him to keep Lakshya away from the front. Paula revealed that Tan is a controlled power player.
Who will Tan face next?
In the Round of 16 clash, Tan will go up against Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn on August 20. Vitidsarn had beaten Israel's Daniil Dubovenko in straight sets in the Round of 32 clash.