i could stretch yong in final as i was fresher than him says championbengaluru after conquering the pressure of expectations to win the mens singles badminton gold medal at the commonwealth games young lakshya sen is getting ready to celebrate his 21st birthday next tuesday before he takes off for the world championships in tokyo august 2228the almora boy who trains at the prakash padukone badminton academy here returned to a warm reception by the trainees and staff led by prakash padukone and ppba director and chief coach u vimal kumarspeaking to reporters at the padukonedravid centre for sports excellence sen said the sixweek break he took by skipping tournaments in malaysia and singapore helped him to do well at the birmingham gamesappreciation from a master prakash padukone admires the singles gold medal won by lakshya sen in the commonwealth games at birmingham on monday toi photoit was my first experience at the commonwealth games and it feels good to do well the break i gave myself by taking time off from tournaments before the cwg helped me do well i didnt put too much pressure on myself thinking about the results i went to birmingham with an open mind but looking at the draw i had this confidence that if i did well i could win this tournament when i skipped the tournaments in malaysia and singapore i knew that i wouldnt be so match fit if i did not play for six weeks eventually the matches in the team event helped me to do well in the second half of cwg sen saidthe indian youngster said the final where he battled back to beat malaysias ng tze yong in three games including a 42stroke rally in the decider was draining all the matches were tough but the final was more of a pressure match there were a few physically demanding games in the team event too it was draining to come back in the final after losing the first game and mentally the final was the toughest said sen who is looking forward to the short break after the japan open which ends in the first week of septemberlakshya sen with his parents nirmala and dk sen second from right prakash padukone extreme left and chief coach u vimal kumar toi photoas the first game was so close i had the confidence that it was not a hard task to win the second and third games if i continued to play the same way even when i was trailing at the start of the second game i didnt panic as i knew i was playing well i kept the shuttle in play and i could see that he was not able to maintain the same pace in the second and third also he had two tough matches coming into the final and i only had one for the final i was much fresher on the court i could stretch him and take advantage of the fact that he