World No 10 concedes too many points in row, struggles in crunch

Lakshya Sen’s re-entry into Top 10 of the world rankings this past week, might have come about, thanks to indifferent results of other contenders. But some patterns in his losses remain pervasive.For a Top 4 finisher at the Olympics, it remains surprising that he has never made finals of a Super 750 tournament, while the All England Super 1000 final of 2022 is a one-off on the Tour. But even factoring in that Sen will be choosy and peak for big tournaments, owing to a defensively body-battering game style needing rationing of energies, his hory of scalping marquee names at will, is rather sparse.
Sen aces a few match-ups, like he knows he can get the better of Anthony Ginting 3-0 (Head 2 Head), Li Shi Feng (7-4), Lee Zii Jia (5-2) and Loh Kean Yew (6-3). But he has also lost the Youth Olympics gold to Shi Feng and Paris Olympics bronze to Zii Jia. But he’s compiling some repetitive H2Hs against Viktor Axelsen (1-8 win loss), Anders Antonsen (2-5) and Kunlavut Vitidsarn (3-6), which can chip at his confidence if not corrected intermittently.
Still, his win against Jonatan Chrie to get out of the group despite trailing him 2-4 in career scores, offer hope.
Viktor: Points differential
According to Badminton World Federation records, Viktor Axelsen has scored a massive 110 points more than Sen in their 9 matches (Sen has 297 points, Axelsen has 407, 1-8 H2H). Though the double Olympic champ, has an over 100-point differential against every player except Antonsen (4-6 H2H), Lee Zii Jia (3-7) and Li Shi Feng (1-0), there is a direct correlation between the wins teased out of the towering Dane and the number of points he’s allowed to fleece. Not only does Sen need to defend well against him, he needs a far larger number of winners. The endgame from 18th point onwards is when Axelsen can swamp – or be swamped right back.
Kunlavut: The other headache
Sen’s point differential against his Thai contemporary Kunlavut Vitidsarn (points differential of -48) is particularly pesky to score off. Sen has 3 wins and 6 losses against the monkishly steady player with variety in stroke play. Sen has 2 wins, 4 losses against Chrie (point differential of -5), Kodai Naraoka (-25) and Chou Tien Chen (Sen scored 316 points, ceded 315), all pointing to him staying in contention in the game, but not finishing well enough.
Sen has a steady grip on Li Shi Feng, the Chinese heir apparent, with a 7-4 H2H, and a healthy +60 points differential. Sen will not balk at the prospect of facing him but the nonchalant mental hold he has over the Chinese, will be tested as time goes .
Finishing woes
While losing 16-21, 21-12, 23-21 to Kenta Nishimoto at Indonesia Masters in Round 1, could be down to sub-par sharpness in the 73 minute battle, Sen has clearly struggled to summon his clutch play, evident in both Paris Olympic losses. At Jakarta, he did well to come back from 16-19 down in decider to 19-all, but his shot selection and strategy got muddled as he navigated those 20-20, 21-21 situations in stringing those 2-3 points together.
Against Lu Guang Zu at Denmark, another three setter, Sen was 21-12, 16-11 up, but utterly botched it from 17-17.Like the Olympics bronze playoff, losing these leads when being moments away from winning, completely deflates him in the third.
Against Axelsen at Paris, Sen led 15-9 and 20-17, but couldn’t convert. Against Anders Antonsen at the Indonesia Open, he had two leads, 20-18 in the first, and 16-14 in second, and lost in straight sets. The shock of holding the lead, then losing it, paralyses Sen completely at the crunch as he approaches the finish line as if it was a barbed wire.
Slabs of blankness
A ‘wodge’ is a good word to describe the inexplicable bands or blocks of time-passages in a Lakshya Sen match when things go south. The youngster is not mentally brittle any measure, he has in fact scored famous wins nicking them at crucial times. But midway through a set, with no warning whatsoever, Sen can suddenly slump. Whether it’s a dip in concentration or trying too hard, or simply letting the opponent do his thing as he phlegmatically watches, only his team can figure. But Sen is notorious for losing points in a chunk.
Against Axelsen, Sen has suddenly conceded 6 points or more (once, even 10 in a row), a whole 9 times, leaving the door ajar, and unable to stem the flood. Zii Jia famously collected 9 in a row, when he took Paris bronze. He probably needs the good ol’ slowing-down tricks to not get blown away like this. But just when he managed to restrict the likes of Antonsen and kept it tight, Sen bungles a finish.
Thrice now though, Sen has gone on a 6+ point run of his own against Axelsen and still lost the match. These up and down bursts and cave-ins of energy perhaps need a median point, or staying in the present, as Kunlavut has mastered.