Hong Kong Open: Lakshya Sen's defeat in the final, Lee Shifng of China is winner

Hong Kong, September 14 (IANS). Sen’s dream of winning the Hong Kong open title is broken. In the final match played on Sunday, Lakshya suffered a defeat with 21-15, 21-12 to Lee Shifeng of China. China became the first country in Open Aira, which did a clean whip at each tournament. India also had a defeat in the men’s doubles. The Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to Olympic silver medalist Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in China in the final match Sunday itself. Sen, which was in a spectacular form during the tournament, made a good start of the final for 45 minutes. The initial phase of the first match was equal and the two players openly recorded. Sen quickly scored nine points, but Lee later returned and overturned the dice. The Chinese Shuttler easily won the first game with a sharp struggle and accurate placement. In the second game, Sen return indicated with an aggressive start and got an early lead. However, Lee equated the score 4-4 due to some wrong shots in critical moments. After that, the Chinese Shuttler gained control and utilized the mistakes of Sen and dominated the game with constant pressure and clever angle. Although Sen initially did well in long rallies, Lee’s strategy to score early points kept the Indian player under constant pressure. The match concluded with a light net shot of Lee. Lakshya, the defeat in the final, is a major setback for Sen. He was looking for his first Super 500 title. His performance in this tournament was good, which is why he is expected to win the title, but in the important moments of the game, Lee Shifeng made the mistakes of him and took the match in his name. -Ians pack/ share these story tags