Kumamoto: India’s Lakshya Sen stormed into his second consecutive men’s singles final with a stunning three-game win over world No. 10 Alwi Farhan of Indonesia at the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 badminton tournament here on Saturday. World No. 13 Lakshya, who won the Hylo Open title, brightened his chances of qualifying for the BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, after reaching the final with a 21-12, 15-21, 21-11 win over sixth seed Farhan.
Eighth seed Lakshya, who is currently 12th in the BWF World Tour rankings with 64,980 points, needs to break into the top 8 to qualify for the season-ending event.
He will face the winner of the other semifinal between Koki Watanabe of Japan and second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
A title win at the Super 500 event will earn Lakshya 9,200 points, while a runner-up finish will fetch him 7,800 points. Either result should take him into the top eight of the BWF World Tour rankings. However, with the Hong Kong Open Super 500 and Syed Modi International Super 300 events left, there could be some changes to the standings.
Lakshya had lost both his previous meetings with Farhan without managing to take a single game off the Indonesian. But he turned the tables on Saturday.
Farhan prefers a high-tempo, aggressive style rather than grinding through extended rallies, and Lakshya had the right strategy to counter him. The Indian focused on constructing rallies patiently and waiting for the right opportunity to attack.
Lakshya opened up a 5-1 lead with precise returns and by targeting Farhan’s forehand. The Indonesian cut the deficit to 3-6 before committing a service fault for height. The Indian did not allow Farhan to dictate the pace or rush him.
A few errors allowed Farhan to reduce the deficit to 10-7. A service error then gave Lakshya a four-point cushion at the interval.
The Indian focused on building rallies patiently, waiting for opportunities to hit winners or draw errors from his opponent. Farhan missed the lines twice after the break as Lakshya moved ahead 14-8.
A quick interception at the net, another deceptive net shot and a winner in a flat exchange helped Lakshya stretch his lead to 18-10.
Farhan smashed wide and then sent another shot long to hand Lakshya eight game points. The Indian sealed the game when the Indonesian hit long again.
The second game began with a remarkable display of Lakshya’s defensive resilience. At 1-2, he retrieved everything Farhan threw at him during a 57-shot rally before the Indonesian eventually hit the net.
However, errors crept into Lakshya’s game as he fell behind 4-9, with Farhan also showing greater patience and control. The Indian suddenly looked passive as the Indonesian took charge, stretching his lead to seven points when Lakshya smashed wide.
Lakshya ended Farhan’s run of seven successive points with a cross-court drop after the interval. He followed it with a cross-court smash to make it 7-13 before committing a net error.
A powerful smash in response to a weak serve helped Farhan maintain his seven-point cushion at 17-10.
A wide return from Lakshya handed Farhan seven game points. The Indonesian squandered two before another wide return allowed him to take the match into a decider.
Lakshya made a strong start in the deciding game, opening up a 4-2 lead after Farhan had exhausted both his video challenges early.
A precise return into the corner extended the Indian’s lead to 6-3. A powerful smash kept him ahead at 8-5 before Farhan took a medical timeout to attend to a bleeding finger.
Lakshya then made a judgement error, but Farhan sent another shot long. The Indian unleashed his trademark jump smash into the corner to move to 10-6. A shot initially called wide, but appeared to have landed inside the line on review, gave Lakshya a five-point lead at the interval.
The Indian continued to build on his advantage, producing a couple of lethal down-the-line smashes to move ahead 15-7.
Farhan hit long again to leave Lakshya just two points away from victory. Another net error from the Indonesian handed the Indian 10 match points, and Lakshya sealed the win with a smash.
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