GLASGOW: Fast-rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen claimed his fourth title in three months, bagging the Scottish Open title with a thrilling win over Brazil’s Ygor Coelho in the men’s singles summit clash here.
The top-seeded Indian overcame his Brazilian opponent 18-21, 21-18, 21-19 in a 56-minute final on Sunday night. The 18-year-old from Uttarakhand has now clinched three titles out of the four tournaments that he has played since September — SaarLorLux Open, Dutch Open, and Belgian International.
After losing in the second round of Irish Open, Lakshya made amends this week and dished out some superb performances right from the start. The Indian began his campaign with a straight-game win over Austria’s Luka Wraber, before defeating compatriot Kiran George to reach the quarterfinals. The world no.41 Indian then recorded another straight-game win over sixth-seed Brian Yang before seeing off France’s Christo Popov in the semifinals.
After this win, Lakshya will break into the top-40 in the BWF rankings and inch closer to a direct qualification in the top grade 2 events. Lakshya thus joined fellow Indians Anand Pawar (2010 and 2012), Arvind Bhatt (2004) and Pullela Gopichand (1999) in winning the Scottish Open title. During the final, Lakshya had fallen behind in the opening game but he managed to turn the tables and grab a 10-8 lead. Coelho, however, reeled off six straight points to move to a 14-10 lead.
The Indian kept breathing down his opponent’s neck but Coelho ensured he had the bragging rights after the opening game. Stung by the reversal, Lakshya came out firing in the second round and jumped to a 7-0 lead in the second game. The Brazilian slowly clawed back at 17-17 but Lakshya managed to bounce back into the contest.
The decider turned out to be an evenly-fought contest and both the shuttlers battled hard to gain the lead. Coelho enjoyed an 11-8 advantage at the break but a gritty Lakshya kept drawing parity and eventually had the last laugh. PTI
Lakshya will now play at the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament at Lucknow starting Tuesday. PTI
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