Sen defeated Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong 19-21, 21-9, 21-16 to win his maiden Commonwealth Games gold
India’s Lakshya Sen celebrates a point during his meeting with Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the Commonwealth Games men’s singles gold medal match. AP
Not long after PV Sindhu’s emphatic victory, it was Lakshya Sen’s turn to make the nation proud as he bagged gold in the badminton men’s singles event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Monday.
The ace shuttler won the final against Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong. At the start, Sen was widely seen as the favourite to win the encounter as he had a 2-0 record over the Malaysian shuttler. He had a slow start in the first game but managed to take the lead for a while. However, Ng Tze Yong soon clawed back and levelled the score 7-7. The Malaysian then seized the lead over world No 10 Sen as the latter lost the first game 19-21.
The second game was equally intense. Sen fought back and took a lead of 11-9. He then totally dominated Yong to win Game 2 21-9. Sen’s stunning comeback saw the contest head into a decider.
In Game 3, Sen managed to take a 7-4 lead. As Yong kept making mistakes in the heat of the encounter, Sen extended his lead to 11-7. The ace shuttler then faced some troubles after Yong made a spirited comeback and managed to narrow down the lead. But Sen held his nerve in the final moments and won the decider 21-16.
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After Lakshya Sen’s sensational victory, Twitter erupted in jubilation. Here are some of the reactions:
The President of India congratulated Sen over his victory.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote, “The whole nation is extremely proud of @lakshya_sen for winning the Gold Medal at #CommonwealthGames !! Congratulations Lakshya for making India proud once again”.
“What a fighter! Just refused to give up until he won. Which he did. Through sheer will. Congratulations” wrote Wasim Jaffer.
“We knew @lakshya_sen was a star but wow, he is shining bright today,” tweeted Harsha Bhogle
Here are some more reactions:
Sen had won the bronze medal at the World Championships in December 2021, becoming the fourth Indian to achieve this feat.
He also secured the silver medal at the All England Cup earlier this year and was part of the Indian men’s badminton team that won the Thomas Uber Cup.
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