While Filimon won the first game, Lakshya came back roaring in the next two games with the third game being particularly dominant from the Indian.
He struggled to understand the drift in the first game but as soon as he understood it, the Indian dominated.
“There was wind and drift in the stadium and my net shots were not traveling. I was a little apprehensive about the power to put on the shot. But I changed it in the second game, got my opponent in the rallies and that’s where I started dominating,” said Lakshya after the win.
Lakshya, who entered the arena to a rupturous cheer from the crowd, started well with two confident pushes but Filimon was also playing good strokes to match him.
The duo exchanged early blows till 8-8 but after that Filimon pulled out a few smashes to lead 12-10. He used an overhead smash to change the angle and floor Lakshya at 15-12.
After the opponent had the lead, Lakshya made a couple of mistakes on the net with the Austrian winning four straight points. Lakshya hit one smash to make it 15-19 but then hit on the net to lose the first game 16-21.
However, once the sides changed, Lakshya brought his top game with multiple errors from Filimon. Once the second game started, Lakshya gained confidence with his down the line smashes.
Despite Filimon equalising at 7-7, Lakshya started dominating with a mix of deceptive shots on the net and smashes. Lakshya led 11-8 at the mid game break and that was the flip of the script for India.
He only allowed the Austrian to win four points in the whole match after that and that too in the third game dominating with a combination of strong pushes and smashes.
“Once my game plan started working, I became more free and my body language started changing,” said Lakshya.
Pritish Raj works with sports team at The Indian Express' and is based out of New Delhi. ... Read More
