Young Tan, giant upset: American teenager shocks Lakshya Sen
Young Garret Tan had already booked his flight out of India for Friday.
He may now have to change it.
The 18-year-old American produced the biggest win of his young career on Wednesday, knocking out former World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 in a pulsating second-round encounter.
Tan had arrived at his maiden World Championships with little more than the ambition of playing his best badminton. He now has a place in the pre-quarterfinals and, at the very least, another day in New Delhi.
"I was supposed to leave on Friday, but I guess…," Tan said with a smile.
For a teenager making his World Championships debut, it was an extraordinary introduction to the biggest stage.
Tan did not spend hours studying Sen before the match. He preferred to keep the occasion, and the reputation of his opponent, at arm’s length.
"No, not really. I just wanted to go in and just play my best. I didn't really want to think about who was standing in front of me," said Tan, who will face former champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand next.
That simplicity appeared to work.
Ranked 92nd in the world, Tan played with the freedom of someone who had little to lose. He repeatedly found the rear court, used the drift intelligently and kept Sen uncomfortable with his attacking game.
"It’s because of the drift and I just kept hitting that side," Tan explained.
His coach Paula Lynn, who has worked with Tan since he was a child, said the plan was to keep Sen away from the front court, where the Indian could put pressure on the young American.
"Lakshya is very good. On the first, he's putting a lot of pressure on Garrett in front. So that's why we wanted to keep him away from the front,” Lynn said.
"He was, like, first set and a little bit of second game, he half-smashed, and then he's very fast on coming forward. So we kind of slowed down the pace.”
Tan had hit his head and felt dizzy, an incident that reminded him of a similar episode a couple of weeks earlier.
"I went for the slide and then I hit my head a little bit and wasn't feeling really well because that happened in my previous match a couple of weeks ago and the same thing happened,” he said.
Lynn's instruction was simple.
"I told him to just reset. Because then the points were getting tight. It was getting to crucial moments. As an athlete, when you're going through that, you can only take in so much. So I told him to just keep his composure, keep focused, and just focus on the current point that's happening.”
Tan did exactly that.
At 16-18, he produced a jump smash. Sen then served long before Tan unleashed a cross-court smash to earn four match points.
The American eventually closed out the contest after Sen slipped while approaching a front-court shot.
For Tan, the final stretch was also about making one small tactical adjustment.
"I think in the third set I kept on hitting one side and he kept on preparing and then in the last couple of points I just changed direction and it worked,” he said.
Lynn, who was sitting by the court side, was impressed with his maturity.
"For a kid like 18 years old, for me, I was actually impressed. He's like my little brother," she said.
"And that's why we were sitting behind him. So it's really impressive that he can maintain that focus and handle that pressure. I mean, it's the World Champs. It's the biggest tournament. So hopefully, he can do bigger and better things. And I'm sure he can."
