Bombarded Chrie’s stinging smashes, Lakshya Sen bows out in semifinals of Japan Open | Badminton News

Lakshya Sen ran into the steadiness of Jonatan Chrie and his defence proved inadequate against the straight-stinging smashing of the Indonesian as the Indian lost 21-15, 13-21, 21-16 in the Japan Open Super 750 semifinals.
Neither was Sen’s net game particularly sharp on the day nor could his smashes pierce Chrie’s defence as he went down in 68 minutes. Chrie, on the other hand, found a bunch of winners, smashing into Sen’s body and finding an accurate angle to his forehand to win the match in 68 minutes.
Sen is known for his reflex defence, but World No 9 Chrie worked up tough angles for him to parry and the relentless retrieving proved to be too crowding and exhausting when the match went into the third. Earlier playing a cross game, Sen had forced Chrie to hit wide off the sidelines as the Indian took an 11-9 lead at the first interval. But immediately after, Chrie forced a lift and smashed from the net to Sen’s feet.
Indonesia’s Jonatan Chrie returns a shot against India’s Lakshya Sen during a semifinal badminton match of the men’s singles in the Japan Open in Tokyo, Saturday, July 29, 2023. AP/PTI
Engaging Sen in tight dribbles at the net, Chrie drew out lifts and forced errors as he levelled matters. An accurate drop gave Chrie the lead at 12-13, and he didn’t look behind the post that in the opener. The Indonesian would increase the lead to 4 points when Sen returned a serve into the net.
Chrie had begun to show his skill as the rallies got longer. He is great at varying the pace within a rally, slowing it down with lifts and tosses and clears to the backcourt, and then suddenly accelerating with a net charge, and one such winner gave him set point at 20-15. His blitz winner after a dawdling, lulling rally gave him the opener at 21-15.
Sen started the second with a perfect lift and went 2-0 with a smash to Chrie’s forehand. It’s when Sen played his best attack, stationed at midcourt and working the shuttle around at a fast clip.
There were fast exchanges Sen won as Chrie hit wide, and the Indian attacked the short lifts and smashed with flat, short angles from the net to go 11-4 up with 6 straight points. Flat exchanges often ended with the Indonesian hitting into the net. While the confidence burst lasted, Sen’s overhead smashes clicked as he went on to level the set scores.
Chrie had the better defence – he is compact and can transition to attack within seconds, and he would start with a 1-3 lead in the decider. Sen’s reflex swat defence winner would make an appearance soon after, but as the rallies prolonged, Chrie was more on the money with his kill shot, while Sen smashed wide. Chrie is also good at finding the lines under pressure and reached 9-6 with a winner on the sideline. Two unreturnable smashes at 10-7 and 11-7 gave Chrie the lead at the interval, as Sen’s usually-dependable defence came undone against the reigning Asian Games champion’s stick smash.
Sen would sneak in a couple of winners to the backline to reach 9-12, but Chrie kept smashing to the body which Sen found difficult to defend as the Indonesian kept a tight hold on the 4-point lead. With the pressure mounting, Sen was hitting wildly, and his reflex swat would go out too. Chrie’s smash held a higher percentage of success, and he would force a lift and smash down again to win 21-16.
The Indonesian was playing a tournament semifinal after six months and has been playing limited events on the circuit. With this win, he increases his head-to-head record to 2-1. Sen goes back to the drawing board ahead of the World Championships.

Why Chrie’s smashes are tough to return
The Jojo Chrie smash that hemmed in Lakshya Sen in the semifinals, is hit with stinging accuracy and comes into the body at an angle. Not the hardest hitter – he had a couple of 380 kph – Chrie mixes his pace in the rally and variety in strokes, working opponents along the diagonal and showing resolute defence, before he turns to kill mode. He found 17 smashes on target on the day, and also had a fair share going wide and into the net depending on the drift. But he earned himself more opportunities to smash drawing out lifts in long rallies, and converted the kill shot. Besides the body smash – mostly crosses, the straight variation saw him draw Sen to the net, or along one flank and then attack the open court with a stinging hit.