Satwik-Chirag dabble at Plan B; make Thailand Open finals after 3-set entertainer
“Kyun dekhu main ganne ke khet? Nai dekhne mujhe ganne ke khet” – Iconic lines from a Bollywood caper, which seem to form the perfect speech bubble for sports fans up in arms about, “Why should we watch badminton? We don’t want to watch badminton.” Without mentioning the C-word, the answer to the question was laughing its head off, out there on a Friday blockbuster of a match between Lakshya Sen and Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Not unlike the PV Sindhu of 2014-17 whose runner-up finishes like the 2017 World Championships remained popcorn munchers, or even the Satwik-Chirag of recent vintage in men’s doubles’ hyper competitive era where they pause spectators’ breathing in tense, taut rallies, Sen too delivers on sport’s highest metric: he makes badminton irresistibly watchable.Sen, playing at Thailand Open, a regulation Super 500 (third rung after Super 1000 and 750), was up against the local favourite in the last match of the quarterfinals day – and he put on a show that makes badminton imminently watchable for those one-sport fans resisting it simply out of ignorance. Sen lost 21-19, 21-16; so you could take jingoism or nationalistic pride out of it, as a possible reason for the dekko recco. Neither was it some titanic valiant fight in vain, that gets called dubbed an epic till tomorrow’s epic arrives. This was simply entertaining badminton where Sen – as is his wont — kept Kunlavut “View” as he is called, on the edge after starting terribly trailing 2-11 in the first set. ALSO READ | Are Satwik-Chirag India’s most consistent badminton players right now? Sen’s frustrating errors, that look casual but are simply poor execution or sharpness of usually brilliant plans, are an important part of his entertainment value. He is what old, crusty critics would call, flashy. Too much showmanship, too many fantastical strokes – which if he cut down, or atleast played without a creative headrush might actually win him more matches. But then, what’s the fun? In the second set, from a salvageable 14-17 situation, Sen went to 14-18, because he tried a fancy backhand high flick at the net – which in that showy wristy gloating, got dumped into the net. A little more shuttle control, less of that stroke-making, and it would have tippled over the meshing, making it 15-17. But Sen can’t help it. Two points later it got to 15-19 because his flair-smash was once again in the net. Story continues below this ad Lakshya put on a show in the Thailand Open that makes badminton imminently watchable for those one-sport fans resisting it simply out of ignorance. (Badminton Photo)Coaches might try drilling pragmatism into him, but preaching him to become boring, feels criminal. For reasons best known to him, Sen starts painfully slowly, and then without fail makes the endgame unblinkable viewing. His is not the raw power, his strokes whiz around like catapults from his reflexive elbow and elastic wrist. The unforced errors get you pulling your hair out, because you can tell it’s a smart web he has woven, but he just can’t catch a break to finish up. On top of all this, he keeps a poker face that betrays nothing – no tiredness, no disappointment at missed opportunity, no over the top exulting either. Opponents get freaked wondering what he will pull off next, despite knowing he has neither a killer smash nor resilient rigour. He can throw it all away, in pursuit of an intricate badminton maze which unfolds at top speed, that keeps opponents on tenterhooks. Kunlavut, technically the most proficient of shuttlers of Sen’s generation, is known to be unflappable. He has a good smash hit, knows to win, and win he did. But only after anguish sat on his face and he sweated buckets and knew he was winning with the cushy leads — but couldn’t be sure, because it was Sen doing his thing from across the court. Kunlavut is a megastar in Thailand after his silver at the Paris Olympics and World title. The same batch as Sen, he’s miles ahead in terms of number of titles, but r
