One reason why the allure of the All England endures in these parts of the world is that no Indian has won it for a long time. Since 2001.
It’s one of four annual Super 1000s. But top Indians have just not nailed the big occasion, when others don’t bother pretending that it’s just another event, and are always looking to peak at it.
Saina Nehwal made the final in 2015, but Carolina Marin properly crushed her title hopes. Perhaps the most audacious charge was made by Lakshya Sen in 2022 – beating Sourabh Verma, Anders Antonsen, Lu Guang Zu and Lee Zii Jia, before Viktor Axelsen imposed his monster game.
But no matter what the prologue has been to this year, or what the projections in an Olympic year might be, Sen perennially threatens to cause a stir at the All E.
Amongst all the Indian men’s singles players, he looked likely to go the deepest after his run at the French Open. On Wednesday, he wrapped up a straight-games win over young Dane leftie Magnus Johannesen, 21-14, 21-14 in an easy Round 1, and ended up the only Indian in Round 2 of men’s singles. Priyanshu Rajawat gave Chico Wardoyo a scare, but had not much left in the tank in the third, losing 19-21, 21-11, 21-9. So it’s down to Sen, who plays another Dane, a more compact, stubborn and quicker one, Antonsen, seeded 4, who lost his first match of 2024 only last week.
Sen, unseeded at Birmingham, has a predictably tough draw. And Antonsen is a repeat of last year’s pre-quarters. Sen hasn’t actually beaten the Dane, who’s tamed his wild hitting ways with exceptional shuttle-control and shorn his temperament off any tempestuous outbursts, since the 2022 All England. That’s three losses straight, denying Sen entry into the quarters at All England, Indonesia and China. The Indian is due to pull one back, and it could be on the back of the clinical win over Johannesen.
Sen wasn’t pushed much in his opener. But he remained sharp, and did well not to dawdle and wind up in a decider. As is his wont, Sen played a disproportionately large number of returns from below the tape in the first game. His low defence is so outlandishly good that he can work the shuttle around without going overhead too often, and picks winners by just skipping about letting the wrist manoeuvre the shuttle, not exerting his shoulders. Against a better Dane, which Antonsen is, he will be summoned to play the shuttle much sooner, and push the pace of rallies by striking it early.
Johannesen is far too inexperienced and stood no chance at the net. But Antonsen will push the shuttle back, aim for the lines, and make Sen work.
Tough cookie
There’s a perceivable increase in pace and intensity in rallies when Sen hits the home stretch of a game. He suddenly piles on the menace in rallies, and opponents tend to find him difficult in 17-17 situations. His brain is granite in endgames, and the reason he’s rated so highly is because no other Indian plays the clutch points better than him. Prannoy has sheer talent, stroke variety and skill. But Sen mentally disintegrates opponents, with ridiculous retrieves, and outrageous net kills.
Antonsen, though, has built himself the patience reserves and will pick a fair share of Sen’s round-the-head smashes. The Indian can run out of patience if three successive ones get picked. He’ll just need to be prepared to go for the fourth one against Antonsen.
He was constructing points nicely against Johannesen, but will need to be a chameleon on pace against the head band-wearing anti-McEnroe of shuttle, who has a lid on his temper, and no qualms about playing boring points. Sen will simply have to buy into the idea that the first few rounds against the likes of Antonsen, or even the later rounds against Kunlavut Vitidsarn, can be laborious.
He has the likes of Lee Zii Jia, Loh Kean Yew and Shi Yuqi to spice up his life ahead, if he can put his head down and disrupt Antonsen with pace eccentricity. But in the city of legendary guitarist Tony Iommi, Sen will need to alter the riffs on the strings and mix up the tempo.
Amongst his batch of 2018, Li Shifeng exited on Tuesday and Kodai Naraoka was packed off on Wednesday. Only Sen and Kunlavut remain. The Indian had his second- and third-game meltdown and a bout of cluelessness against Vitidsarn at the French, though one suspects he was in a hurry to cross the channel. But the Indian loves his All England stomp. He knows he’s always belonged there. Antonsen starts favourite in Round 2, but Sen can dial 2022 again.
.