Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed shuttler Lakshya Sen for putting up a spirited fight after he lost the final of the All England Championships, and expressed confidence that he would keep scaling new heights of success.
Sen's dream run at the All England Championships ended with a heartbreaking straight-game loss against world number one and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the men's singles final on Sunday, continuing India's 21-year-long agonising wait for the coveted trophy.
"Proud of you @lakshya_sen! You've shown remarkable grit and tenacity. You put up a spirited fight. Best wishes for your future endeavours," Modi tweeted.
"I am confident you will keep scaling new heights of success," the prime minister said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also hailed Sen's performance.
"You are second to none, @lakshya_sen. You have won a billion hearts. Congratulations for a wonderful performance. You have done India proud! My best wishes for your future endeavours," Gandhi tweeted.
After four days of sensational badminton, the 20-year-old Sen faltered on the cusp of history as he committed too many errors to go down 10-21 15-21 to former champion Axelsen in a lop-sided summit clash that lasted 53 minutes at the Barclaycard Arena.
"I thnk the strategy was there. I played him last week but today he was looking solid in attack and defence as well. He was really patient and played a really good game," Sen said after the match.
"In the opening game, I committed a lot of errors, that cost me the game. I was there in the second game but again he was too solid for me to put the shuttle down," he added.
On Saturday, Sen had become only the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980, 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) to reach the final of the prestigious tournament after outwitting defending champion Lee Zii Jia in a gruelling semifinal.
A week back, Sen had recorded his first win over former world champion Axelsen en route to his final appearance at the German Open but he couldn't sustain his craft on Sunday as his highly-fancied rival returned the favours, claiming his fifth overall win against the Indian.
"There was a lot of pressure before the match but when I was on court it was just another match for me. I played really crucial match yesterday and that gave me confidence but credit to him for playing a perfect game." While 2020 winner Axelsen claimed the men's singles title for the second time, Japan's Akane Yamaguchi won the women's singles crown, beating South Korea's An Seyoung 21-15 21-15 in the final.
