Lakshya Sen ends title drought, emerges Australian Open champion
Sydney (PTI): A fluent Lakshya Sen ended a difficult stretch on the international circuit by clinching his first title of the 2025 season, defeating Japan's Yushi Tanaka in the Australian Open men's singles final, here Sunday.
The 24-year-old from Almora, enduring a tough phase after finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics, capped a resurgent week with a commanding 21-15 21-11 win over 26-year-old Tanaka.
Emerging champion after a 38-minute final of the USD 475,000 Super 500 event, the Indian celebrated the moment by putting his fingers in his ears.
"I have seen a lot of ups and downs this season, with a few injuries at the start of the season. But I kept my hard work going throughout the season and I am very happy to end the season on a good note," said Lakshya.
"I'm very excited, looking forward to the next season now and I am really happy with the way I played today and this week."
Lakshya, a 2021 World Championships bronze-medallist, had last won a Super 300 title at the Syed Modi International in Lucknow in 2024.
However, a top-tier crown had eluded him since his triumph at the Canada Open the same year, though he came close at the Hong Kong Super 500 in September when he finished runner-up.
Facing world No. 26 Tanaka, winner of two Super 300 titles this year at the Orléans Masters and the US Open, Lakshya displayed control, sharp placement and clean execution, wrapping up the contest without dropping a game.
With this victory, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion became only the second Indian to win a BWF World Tour title this season, following Ayush Shetty’s maiden Super 300 triumph at the US Open.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had reached the finals at the Hong Kong and China Masters, while Kidambi Srikanth also logged a runner-up finish at the Malaysia Masters earlier in the year.
Lakshya made a confident start, opening up a 6-3 lead as Tanaka committed a flurry of errors -- hitting into the net, going wide and overcooking his lifts.
A 35-shot rally ended with the Japanese shuttler again finding the net, before a lucky net cord finally broke Lakshya’s run of points.
Two crisp cross-court smashes on either flank had Lakshya on the floor as Tanaka closed the gap to 7-9, but the Indian carried a three-point cushion into the mid-game interval after the Japanese sprayed another shot to the net.
Chants of 'Lakshya! Lakshya' rang around the arena during the mid-game intervals, with a sizable Indian crowd turning up to support him.
The Indian tightened his grip thereafter, dominating the net exchanges and keeping the shuttle flat and deep, denying Tanaka the length he needed to unleash his whipping smashes as he moved ahead 13-9.
Tanaka responded with a powerful smash, followed by a long error from Lakshya and a sharp net shot to make it 12-13. But Lakshya again pulled away, opening up a four-point lead at 17-13 with a backhand smash and another fierce cross-court winner.
Tanaka tried to stay in the hunt but two long errors handed Lakshya five game points. The Indian converted immediately as Tanaka drove another shuttle to the net.
Lakshya said making a good beginning to match was important.
"It was important to have a good start, and keep the momentum in the last set because it was quite even in the first one.
"I got a good lead and I could finish it off. The second set started on a good note and then I just kept the lead to finish the match," the Indian noted.
The second game turned into a one-sided affair as Lakshya kept up the intensity, continuing to play fast, flat returns even as Tanaka tried stretching him with his trademark whipping smashes but those were far too few to pose any challenge.
The Japanese overdid his attack and his inconsistency overshadowed his good moments as Lakshya moved ahead 8-4.
A flat cross-court drive pushed Lakshya to 10-5, and he secured a six-point lead at the interval with another thunderous smash.
Lakshya showed excellent backline judgement as Tanaka repeatedly floated the shuttle long. After winning a tight net duel, the Indian extended the lead to 13-6. Tanaka struggled to withstand Lakshya's power, continuing to hit wide and into the net as the lead swelled to 17-8.
Lakshya then hammered a barrage of smashes to move to 19-8 and soon earned 10 match points with another fine shot near the net. He squandered one with a net error but sealed the title with a sharp cross-court return.
The Indian said his focus was on winning each point, rather than getting carried away.
"On the moment he knew he could win: In the second set I was quite far off in the lead, but I didn't want to get too inside my head so I wouldn't relax too much. In the back of my mind it was there but I was just trying to focus on playing one point at a time," he said.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
