Lakshya Sen, Loh Kean Yew & Lee Zii Jia A little like financial markets, the world of men’s singles badminton is watching with interest, for an imminent course correction. Where a big tournament will see the likes of Lakshya Sen and Loh Kean Yew – stars of the last World Championships, two youngsters who trained with Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen at his warm-weather training base, Dubai – being grilled by the established names, and schooled in the 10-20 percent of tactical nous that might be lacking in their arsenal.
Of course, there sits that curdling fear that the passing of the baton – as it seemed at the depleted December World Championship – might well be irreversible. That Viktor Axelsen’s loss to Sen at Mülheim on Saturday wasn’t a glitch, but a permanent adjusting of the frequency Hz. That Kento Momota might struggle to find his radar after a home Olympics that ended in personal disaster. That Lee Zii Jia and Chou Tien Chen have slipped through the gaps, overtaken by the disruptors. That Anthony Ginting and Jonatan Christie can’t stop staring at the recurring Covid nightmare that sent the whole Indonesian contingent out of the All England last year, and after Ginting’s positive test last week (subsequently negative), just getting onto the court might be a struggle.
The virus uncertainty is back at All England for the third straight year. In the middle of which, a bunch of youngsters including Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn is staking claim to the crown snapping at seasoned heels.
Sen starts out against tricky Sourabh Verma, who enjoys a 2-1 head-to-head record against him, though the last meeting had a scoreline of 21-9, 21-7 in favour of the youngster. He could next run into the winner between third seed Anders Antonsen and World champion Loh.
Chinese Lu Guang Zu or Zhao Jun Peng could fetch up in the quarters, and the Chinese are known to work through the winters and come out all guns blazing at All England.
It's All England time! 🏸
And the Indians are in for a tough ride… #BWFWorldTour | #AllEngland2022 | @BAI_Media | @YonexAllEngland
— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) March 15, 2022
THE OTHER, BIGGER INDIANS
A World Championship silver in his pocket, Kidambi Srikanth ought to have more than a buzz around his credentials for the All England crown, 21 years since Pullela Gopichand’s triumph. He’s overcome the flash of Sen to pick that silver. But he keeps running into Axelsen in subsequent tournaments and will need to step up his game should they play again in the quarters. Though Thai Kantaphon Wangcharoen and Indonesian Ginting are early hurdles for the 29-year-old Indian.
Axelsen, on the other hand, must be a tad sick at the sight of Indians he keeps running into. Four in his quarter of eight at Birmingham are Indians, and none of them is called Lakshya Sen, his nemesis from last week.
As wretched as B Sai Praneeth’s luck has been over the last few months, the former Worlds medallist possesses the game and hunger to pounce on Axelsen’s early vulnerability. Praneeth often evokes unkind mocking memes due to his losses, but Axelsen might just have preferred someone with less trickery in his arsenal in Round 1. There could be the whippy, reflexive Sameer Verma in Round 2, if Indian takeaways at Birmingham are the flavour of the season. And Srikanth thereafter, of course.
Entrusted with running into the storm, as always, is HS Prannoy, who will have to do some heavy lifting, literally, to stop the man in form, Vitidsarn.
That’s not a whole lot of Indians starting as favourites for the title with the return of Momota. But one can’t deny that the last three big tournaments on the circuit – German Open, India Open and the World Championships all had Indian finalists, with the youngest among them, Sen, leading the unlikely charge.
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