Just want to play freely and give my best, says Lakshya

The Hylo Open triumph was Lakshya’s first title of the year. | Photo Credit: BWF/BADMINTONPHOTO Lakshya Sen ended his title drought at the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken where he beat Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 21-17, 21-10 in Sunday’s final.It was Lakshya’s first trophy of 2026, his second at the event, and his first since the Australian Open last November. The scoreline flatters the story. Lakshya led 18-10 in the opening game before Christie ripped off seven straight points. Doubt, he insists, never entered the room.“I had to be very patient against Christie and wait for the right chances. He also has a very good attack, so I had to not give him easy chances to finish the rally,” Lakshya said in a virtual interaction facilitated by the BAI.So he took to the net, slowed the tempo, and refused to hand over easy finishes. Their head-to-head is now level (4-4), but he doesn’t carry numbers onto court.“You play them so often that all the time matches are 50-50. You don’t really go there to see ki chalo kya hoga (okay, it’s done). You go there to fight and give your best and play the right game.”The road to the title was rough. A first-round exit at the Denmark Open was followed by a withdrawal from the French Open due to pain in the shoulder.“I was still a bit rusty in the shot selection,” he admitted, arriving in Germany without much rhythm.It’s been a less-than-ideal season fitness-wise for Lakshya, where niggles have not ruled him out of events, but annoyed him enough to disrupt flow. Despite that and underwhelming campaigns at the World Championships and the Asian Games in Japan, Lakshya maintains his confidence.By the semifinal in Saarbrucken against France’s Toma Junior Popov, the touch was back, for which Lakshya credits volume: five matches in a week sharpened him for the business end.As India’s leading men’s singles player, he feels the weight too. “There is a lot of pressure. I just want to play freely and give my best every time I play for my country.”Men’s singles, in his view, has no clear favourite right now. “Anyone can beat anyone on a given day,” he said of the top 15 to 30, and titles, not rankings, are his priority.With 2027 bringing the 15x3 format, Lakshya has already tweaked his way of training, with good starts crucial in shorter, more intense games.First, though, a few days at home with family over Diwali. Then Japan and Hong Kong, two stops that keep his World Tour Finals bid alive. Published - November 03, 2026 09:43 pm IST