Vimal Kumar's frank advice to Lakshya Sen after China Open exit: ‘No coach can do anything, answers are on the court. He has to do this himself'

Indian Express

6 days ago

Lakshya Sen had pocketed the first set against Li Shifeng by smartly pushing the shuttle to the back court in fast, flat, and very short exchanges against a lumbering Li Shifeng. At his home Super 1000 tournament, Shifeng was under considerable pressure and not moving particularly well, something Sen correctly diagnosed and struck angles to pick clever points.
From the unhelpful side with the wind in the second set, Sen came back from 10-16 down to twice hold match points. Serving for the match against World No 5, Sen ended up with two typical errors that have fallen into a pattern. He does all the hard work and promptly fritters all advantage, in a way that leaves coaches seething. This time, it was an adventurous flick serve. It was ruefully short, floated right to Shifeng's hand and received the swatting it deserved. A second poor serve on the next match point opportunity pushed the game into a decider, where Sen couldn't string together any gameplan and went down 21-14, 22-24, 21-12 in 66 minutes.
The manner of the defeat dragged coach Vimal Kumar into those two wretched memories of Olympics, losing to Viktor Axelsen and Lee Zii Jia, where Sen had similarly botched advantageous situations, and turned tentative in finishing, not backing the game and aggression that had brought him there. While an Olympic semifinal is the furthest any Indian male has gone, the coach believes his ward is sinking into this pattern, of turning over-cautious right on the brink of winning.
In an interview with Indian Express, Vimal attempted to explain what is going wrong.
What really is going wrong?
Vimal Kumar: In the second game, Lakshya had two match points. He did well from the difficult end to get into a match point scenario. There was no need for that flick serve, he could have taken the usual route of playing rallies like he won so many previous points. It's happened before and he's making the same mistake over and over again.
Why does he opt for a flick serve?
Vimal Kumar: He needs to learn that he can take time, there's no need for rushing the serve unnecessarily. Even in the third game, he should have kept the shuttle to the back of the court (with flats) instead of trying to hit it down. Li Shifeng kept getting the openings because these were very poor tactics. Maybe Lakshya was trying to surprise the opponent, and win point quickly when he should have played calmly, served short. He was playing with the wind so there was danger of it going out. But he served right into Shifeng's hand, short, and he belted it down. He's not applying himself calmly. You have to convert these chances.
What about his game bothers you the most?
Vimal Kumar: Kodai (Naraoka, last week in Japan) and Li Shifeng today were not playing that great. That's what's disappointing. Lakshya's thinking process is not right. Once or twice this can happen. But being tactically wrong at crucial junctures consistently is hard to explain and not good for his confidence. Those were two easy points today in second, and playing with the wind he just needed those flat drives in the third. He needs to sensibly apply. He used to be so good at exactly that and in big matches. He's thinking too much, maybe when the only thought should be to not make any errors.
Did Shifeng's big game affect Sen?
Vimal Kumar: Lakshya has a good record against him, it's 7-6 now. But yes, these Yonex shuttles were weaker and folding today so they were tough to take when Shifeng hit hard. Lakshya, as I said earlier, is not striking smashes cleanly last one year because of his shoulder. But he becomes over-cautious. He had Viktor Axelsen in that semifinal (at Paris). Even in the medal match, 8-3, 12-5 up, he ends up with tentative shots in the net. But it's happening match after match for the last one year.
Is the Olympics loss still weighing on his mind?
Vimal Kumar: We will have to see. But you can't brood over it. It's done and dusted. Maybe 2-3 tournaments. But he's playing at the highest level. So you tell me what is the solution? He has no choice but to be practical and pull out these matches. He's a very good player to sit thinking about Olympics. When he plays well, it is a treat to watch and he can.
Can the Korean coach sitting for his matches help?
Vimal Kumar: No coach can do anything. The answer is not more training, more gym. Answers are on the court. He has to do this himself. It's simple – no mistakes. I don't blame anybody else. When he converts these points, automatically he looks a good player and everything falls into place.
What would you have told him if you were at the match?
Vimal Kumar: Let's be clear. No one can do anything. My instructions to him are simple – don't make a mistake on crucial points. In the second set, he didn't need to do anything different on match points. He had another set to fall back on, if he couldn't get this one. There was no need to take on pressure and be over cautious. Both players were not tired, so in the third a fight was likely. In fact Li Shifeng looked more tentative and was under pressure playing in China.
He's beaten Jonatan Christie at Olympics after losing to him in lead up. Does that give you confidence he can beat Viktor and Shifeng?
Vimal Kumar: At the Olympics, he had a challenging start against the Belgian. But he pulled out tough matches against him and Prannoy. And he was playing well to beat Chou Tien Chen and Christie. But he has to convert. You need good wins under the belt heading into World Championship. Suddenly one tournament you won't sparkle.
So is it the World Championships next?
Vimal Kumar: He's entered Macau, but let's see if he plays. He needs match practice. In badminton, you can't say too many matches if you are losing early. They hardly play 40-50 a year. Tennis players have it more gruelling. Yes, the badminton circuit is tough, but you can crib if you reach quarterfinals consistently. Not if you lose early. You have to convert such matches.
Are you angry that he's not calm?
Vimal Kumar: Yes.