Lakshya Sen wins India Open, overcomes Loh of Singapore

New Delhi, Jan 16: World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen defeated reigning World Champion Loh Kean Yew to win his maiden India Open title here on Sunday.
The 20-year-old from Almora became the first Indian to win the tournament on debut.
Lakshya registered a straight-games victory 24-22, 21-17 over the Singaporean in the men’s singles final.
In the first set, both players created equal spoils in the initial stage. Lakshya hit back and took a three-point advantage at the mid-game interval 11-8.
Post break, the Indian completely dominated the game and extended the lead to 17-13.
Loh turned the game around as he drew the level with four points in a row. Lakshya then reached to game point but the Singaporean again leveled it.
The momentum was swinging back and forth before the Indian clinched the first game 24-22 in 24 minutes.
After the change of sides, Loh took an early lead but a series of errors from him equalized the scores 5-5. After slow and intense play, Lakshya held a two-point lead at the stroke of interval 11-9.
Lakshya extended his lead to 16-11 but Loh reduced the deficit to 16-14.
Both the shuttlers traded series of points but the Indian later reached to the match point with 20-17 advantage. Lakshya eventually wrapped up the win with his lightning fast smash.
Lakshya has extended his head-to-head record against Loh to 3-2.

Satwik Sairaj and Chirag Shetty on Sunday scripted history, becoming the first Indian men’s doubles pair to clinch the India Open title here at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall.

The Indian duo defeated the veteran Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan 21-16, 26-24 in the final