He has been long ear-marked as the one to watch out for in Indian badminton and Lakshya Sen is beginning to justify the hype. A bronze medal in the BWF World Championship last month was followed by the India Open Super 500 title on Sunday.
But the rigours of being on the tour have also caught up with the youngster as he announced on Monday that he was withdrawing from the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament citing exhaustion.
"He was feeling tired. From October 5 last year he has been playing... India Open was the 11th straight tournament," his coach, U Vimal Kumar, told DH.
Lakshya trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy of which Vimal is the director.
"He just had a week off after the World Championship. He felt sore, his arm and back. So he wanted to rest for a week and get back into training."
Sunday's win over world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore was an interesting watch as Sen showed evidence of improvement in his performance.
"Lakshya and Loh have a similar style of play. Loh's defence was a bit better but Lakshya's attack was superior. They have played five times and Lakshya leads 3-2. It was always a scrap and whoever hit through won (the contest). Yesterday, tactically Lakshya was better. He controlled the rallies, was better at the net, kept Loh on his toes and didn't allow him to settle," Vimal said.
"What I liked yesterday was that Lakshya was up 16-11, he was quite anxious and wanted to finish quickly and looked hurried. He allowed Loh to come up. So he took a medical time out and broke the rhythm, composed himself and pulled out the win."
Consistent competition has brought the best out of Sen, something he lacked earlier as the Covid-19 pandemic threw the schedule out of whack just as he was breaking into the top level. Now with a consistent run of performances under his belt, the challenge will be to keep it going.
"I'm quite happy with his progress. Earlier, he didn't know when to go on defence and when to attack. Last few months of playing against big players, he has understood. He has a good attack and when he hits, he has one of the best smashes in world badminton. That is his biggest plus. There is no end to the skill he can acquire but he has to remain in the present and not look too far ahead. He is not big built so the priority is to take care of his body," Vimal said.