SINGAPORE – Singapore badminton player Jason Teh’s hunt for his first international title continues as a lacklustre performance saw him lose 21-6, 21-7 to India’s Lakshya Sen at the Syed Modi India International on Dec 1.
Playing in his fifth final of 2024, Teh found no luck in Lucknow, as world No. 14 Sen clinched the title in his first final of the year.
At the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium, Sen took just 31 minutes to demolish his 39th-ranked opponent, who had also lost in the finals of the Malaysia Super 100 and Macau, Polish and Luxembourg Opens this season.
After bagging US$7,980 (S$10,690) for finishing second in the Badminton World Federation Super 300 event, Teh said: “The colour of the medal doesn’t matter the most to me, what is important is the quality of my play on court in all my matches.
“I’m disappointed with my own performance today. I wasn’t able to perform to the best of my ability and unlike yesterday, I just can’t seem to find my rhythm.
“I tried to do what I could but unfortunately it didn’t work for me. My opponent played really well and he was consistent in every aspect of his game.”
Sen raced to an eight-point lead in the first game, leaving the 24-year-old Singaporean flat-footed at times.
Despite Teh’s best efforts, Sen extended his lead to 18-5 before winning 21-6.
Starting the second game as strongly, the 23-year-old Indian pinned fourth seed Teh back with his smashes and quickly amassed an 11-1 lead.
Teh could not cope with the superior positioning and quicker reflexes of the top seed, who reeled in six consecutive points to close out the match and claim the US$15,750 winner’s cheque.
National training squad coach Taufiq Hidayat said the Singaporean needs to be “braver” in his shot execution.
He said: “It was obvious that Jason did not perform up to par today, but I think this loss should be seen as part of his progress towards the top levels of badminton.
“He needs more experience and be braver to go for his shots in order to have that breakthrough when he meets top-level players like Sen.”
Teh had reached the final by defeating India’s 34th-ranked Priyanshu Rajawat 21-13, 21-19 the previous day, but did not display the same conviction.
Taufiq added: “Today, he was overthinking and could not play his natural game which saw him win the semi-finals in straight games. He just made too many unforced errors.
“In the second game, at the mid-game break, I just told him to play whatever he can and keep fighting. Naturally, today’s loss is going to hurt, but I have confidence that he will bounce back and can win a major badminton title soon.”
Teh has two more events lined up in India. He will next compete at the Dec 3-8 Guwahati Masters in Assam, before taking part in the Odisha Masters in Cuttack from Dec 10-15.
Sen credited the home supporters after his victory, saying: “The crowd support was amazing, and I got a lot of support from them today.”
The home fans had plenty to cheer about as India’s players reached all five finals, winning three.
In the women’s singles, world No. 18 P.V. Sindhu also clinched her first title of 2024 with a 21-14, 21-16 victory over China’s 119th-ranked Wu Luoyu, after Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela defeated Bao Lijing and Li Qian of China 21-18, 21-11 to win the women’s doubles final.
But Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost 18-21, 21-14, 21-8 to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran in the mixed doubles.
Pruthvi Roy and Sai Pratheek fell 21-14, 19-21, 21-17 to China’s Huang Di and Liu Yang in the men’s doubles.
