Lakshya Sen withdraws from Syed Modi International citing exhaustion

The
20-year-old
from
Uttarakhand
had
stunned
world
champion
Loh
Kean
Yew
of
Singapore
in
the
finals
to
clinch
his
maiden
Super
500
crown
at
the
season-opening
India
Open
on
Sunday
(January
16).

“Since
completing
the
India
Open
2022
tournament
in
Delhi
last
night,
I
am
feeling
very
exhausted
and
suffering
from
tiredness.
In
these
circumstances,
I
am
afraid
I
will
not
be
able
to
do
justice
to
my
participation
in
the
event,”
Sen
said
in
his
letter
to
the
organisers.

“Therefore,
after
consulting
my
coaches,
my
physios
and
family,
I
have
decided
it
would
be
best
for
me
to
withdraw
from
the
Syed
Modi
International
2022
tournament
so
that
I
can
take
some
much
needed
rest
and
recuperate,
before
I
start
training
in
earnest
for
the
upcoming
events
from
March
onwards,”
he
added.

The
youngster
has
competed
in
nine
tournaments
since
October
last
year.
He
entered
the
finals
of
the
Dutch
Open,
reached
the
semifinals
at
Hylo
and
entered
the
knockout
stage
at
World
Tour
Finals
on
debut
before
sizzling
at
the
World
Championships
with
a
bronze
last
year.

“My
sincere
apologies
for
the
short
notice
to
withdraw
from
the
event.
I
trust
you
will
understand
my
position
and
appreciate
your
support
in
this
matter.
I
hope
the
tournament
goes
off
smoothly,
and
I
wish
all
participants,
especially
my
fellow
participants
from
India,
all
the
very
best
in
the
event,”
Sen
added.

A
hectic
season
awaits
Indian
shuttlers
with
big-ticket
events
such
as
Commonwealth
Games,
Asian
Games
lined-up
this
year
apart
from
the
regular
BWF
World
Tour
events,
including
the
World
Championships
and
All
England
Championships.

Sen,
who
had
emulated
his
mentor
Prakash
Padukone
by
winning
the
World
championship
bronze
in
Huelva,
Spain
last
month,
will
now
look
to
claim
the
All
England
Championships
in
March.

Top
men’s
doubles
pair
of
Satwiksairaj
Rankireddy
and
Chirag
Shetty
also
decided
to
give
the
Super
300
tournament
a
miss
after
becoming
the
first
team
from
the
country
to
win
the
India
Open
crown.

Among
other
Indians,
top
seed
Kidambi
Srikanth,
top
women’s
doubles
player
Ashwini
Ponnappa
and
men’s
doubles
player
Manu
Attri
have
confirmed
to
PTI
their
withdrawal
from
the
tournament.

Srikanth,
Ashwini
and
Attri
were
withdrawn
from
the
India
Open
after
testing
positive
for
COVID-19
last
week.