PM Modi praises Lakshya Sen’s spirited fight in All England Open final

PM Narendra Modi tweeted,”Proud of you Lakshya Sen! You’ve shown remarkable grit and tenacity. You put up a spirited fight. Best wishes for your future endeavours. I am confident you will keep scaling new heights of success.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also hailed Sen’s performance.

“You are second to none, @lakshya_sen. You have won a billion hearts. Congratulations for a wonderful performance. You have done India proud! My best wishes for your future endeavours,” Gandhi tweeted.

Viktor Axelsen defeated Lakshya Sen by 21-10, 21-15 at Utilita Arena in Birmingham in the badminton match that lasted 53 minutes. The young Indian shutter was bidding to become only the third man after Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) to win the All England Open Badminton Championships, or simply All England which is the world’s oldest and most prestigious badminton tournament.

Despite the loss, it has been a creditable performance for Sen, who is still in his early days in elite-level badminton. He secured his maiden world championships bronze in December last, before winning his first Super 500 title at India Open in January and finishing runner-up at the German Open last week.

After taking part in this final, Sen is now only the fifth Indian – after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980 and 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) – to make the summit clash of All England.