Fast-rising Lakshya hungry for more

Like a typical teenager, Lakshya Sen is drawn towards PlayStation (PS) and movies in his leisure time. But badminton is something that’s constant in his life.

The 18-year-old adopted desperate measures to stay close to the game during the coronavirus-forced lockdown. “In the initial days, I did wall practice,” began Lakshya in an interaction with DH. “Later, I fixed badminton net at home and tried perfecting the dribble shot. I removed all the objects in our living room and trained there. I also watched some of my matches on YouTube,” he said.

Between October-December last year, Lakshya clinched five titles. Even as the Indian top guns endured a forgettable season, Lakshya hogged the limelight with two BWF Super 100 titles (SaarLorlux and Dutch Open) and three BWF International Challenge crowns (Scottish Open, Bangladesh and Belgian International).

Just when he aimed to build on his splendid last season, the Covid-19 pandemic became a barrier to his plans. In the BWF’s ‘Race to Tokyo Olympics’ list, he is placed in the 25th spot, behind his counterparts Kidambi Srikanth (22) and B Sai Praneeth (13).

“I was set to play the Indian Open and Swiss Open. Now both the tournaments are cancelled. I wanted to add more Olympic points. It was very frustrating to sit at home and see many events get affected. It took a while for me realise I am not the only sportsperson facing the consequences of the virus outbreak,” he said.

At the All England Championship in March this year, Lakshya got a glimpse of the sport’s challenges at the highest level. Battling against Viktor Axelsen, the 2017 World Champion, Lakshya didn’t let his opponent’s ‘favourite’ tag influence him. The rising youngster bowed out fighting 17-21, 18-21.

“More than the opponent, it’s the tournament’s history that intimidated me. The packed crowd made me nervous. After a couple of hits, I settled down. He (Viktor) kept a good length compared to me,” he explains.

Coached first by his father DK Sen, Lakshya’s early exploits are the Asian Junior title and a silver medal at the Summer Youth Olympics in 2018. From the last one and a half years, Lakshya’s talent is honed by Vimal Kumar at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA). Lakshya points out the Dronacharya winner’s impact on him and also thanks the legendary Prakash for his guidance.

“Both Vimal and Prakash sir stress on the importance of peaking at the right time in a tournament. Under them, I am trying to have the winning habit,” he said.

The shuttler, who rose from 109 at the start of the season to 27 in the world ranking, was praised by Morten Frost Hansen during his 12-week training stint with the legendary Danish player in September last. Hansen felt Lakshya has it in him to break into the top 10. His journey so far explains why experts see Lakshya as a top prospect in the coming days.