New Delhi: India's Lakshya Sen beat Singapore's Loh Kean Yew to win the India Open men's singles finals with a 24-22, 21-17 victory here on Sunday. Sen secured his first 500 super title after he beat the reigning world champion Kean Yew and became the first Indian debutant to win the title.
Sen focussed on a calm game until the end rather than fancy attacks, even though he was in the lead with large margins. Kean Yew delivered swift and flat exchanges to unsettle his opponent. But Sen seemed to be expecting that and kept a slow pace, not feeding Kean's furious shots.
In the opener, Kean fought back from 17-19 to 20-19 and had three set points. But Sen came back quickly, sealing the open with 24-22. And in the second set, he kept a 3-point lead at first and finished the game sealing the set.
After the match, Sen said that he was feeling nervous. He was anxious to win when the game neared to end, but he pulled off the win. It felt nice after winning, he said.
Ken had won bronze in the world championships in 2021 after he lost to Kidambi Srikanth in the semis.
Earlier on Sunday, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had won the men's double title in the tournament.