LAKSHYA SEN - INDIAN BADMINT PLAYER
Indian Badminton Player - Lakshya SEN
Biography
Lakshya Sen etched his name in Indian sporting history at the Paris 2024 Olympics, becoming the first Indian male shuttler to reach the semi-finals in the men’s singles event.
In an impressive campaign, Lakshya defeated top-tier players, including Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie and compatriot HS Prannoy, before falling to reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the semi-finals. Despite his efforts, Lakshya narrowly missed a podium finish, losing to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal match. Axelsen himself was full of praise, declaring Lakshya as a "very strong competitor" and a potential gold medal favourite for the next Olympics.
This performance was a culmination of years of hard work, beginning with his early triumphs in the junior circuit. Born on August 16, 2001, in Almora, Uttarakhand, Lakshya Sen displayed prodigious talent from a young age. He comes from a family of badminton players where his father DK Sen is a coach and his brother Chirag also competes in the singles events.
Lakshya Sen (born 16 August 2001) is an Indian badminton player.[3] He's a former World Junior No. 1. Sen is a bronze medalist at the World Championships, a gold medalist at the Thomas Cup, a silver medalist at the Asian Games and a gold and silver medalist at the Commonwealth Games.[4] He has also won bronze medals at the Asia Team and Asia Mixed Team Championships. Sen won the Canada Open and was the runner-up at the All England Open. At the junior level, he has won a gold and silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games, a bronze medal at World Junior Championships and a gold and bronze medal at Asia Junior Championships.[5]
Early life
Sen was born on 16 August 2001 to Nirmala and Dhirendra Sen in the Almora district of Uttarakhand.[6] They shifted to Bangalore for the sake of his badminton career. Sen is a third generation shuttler from his family. His grandfather Chandra Lal Sen and his father were badminton players.[7] His elder brother Chirag Sen is also a professional shuttler.[8]
Personal life
Coaching
Vimal Kumar is his coach while former player Prakash Padukone is his mentor.[9] For brief periods of time, Sen has been coached by Yoo Yong-sung.[10] He has also undergone training stints under Morten Frost and Peter Gade.[11] His conditioning coach is Paddy Upton.[12] In addition to his training sessions, Sen takes on ice baths, steam and sauna, and joint mobilisation work routines.[13]
Career
Early steps (2009)
Sen was about ten years old when he walked into Vimal Kumar's office at the Karnataka Badminton Association in Bengaluru, stood on his toes to reach the table and gave him a handwritten note. In it, he wrote scoreline details, wanting to join the academy to get better and beat his opponents.[14]
Swiss Junior International (2016)
Having trained at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Sen had shown his talent as a badminton player at a very young age.[15] In 2014, he won the Swiss Junior International and had a brilliant year in the junior badminton circuit in 2016.[16] He clinched the bronze medal at Junior Asian Championship after losing to Sun Feixiang 12–21, 16–21. Coincidently, Sen lost to Sun again in the pre-quarters of Junior World Championship 21–17, 8–21 and 13–21. His team finished 8th in the team event. Sen then competed in the senior international level and won the men's singles title at the 2016 India International Series tournament.
Vietnam Open (2017)
Sen started off at Syed Modi International where he lost in the pre-quarters to compatriot Sourabh Verma 14–21, 16–21. Sen then became the number one junior singles player in BWF World Junior ranking in February 2017.[17] At the Junior Asian Championship, Sen was seeded as No.1 but lost in the pre-quarters to Lin Chun-yi 21–13, 23–25 and 20–22. Sen reached the Quarter-finals of Vietnam Open before losing to Kodai Naraoka 21–17, 21–23 and 10–21. Sen was then seeded as No.2 at the Junior World Championship but in the Quarter-finals, he lost to Kodai Naraoka 21–14, 17–21, 14–21.
Asian Junior Championships and Youth Olympics (2018)
Sen defeated Cheam June Wei, a much higher ranked player than him 21–11, 21–16 in straight games at the New Zealand Open but lost to 2 time Olympic gold medallist and seed No.1 Lin Dan 21–15, 15–21 and 12–21. At the Australian Open. He lost to seed No.7 Lee Cheuk Yiu 20–22, 21–13 and 19–21. Sen emerged as the champion at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships defeating the top seeded World Junior No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the final 21–19, 21–18.[18]
At the Hyderabad Open, Sen lost to seed No. 8 Heo Kwang-hee 13–21 and 12–21. Sen defeated seed No.2 Sitthikom Thammasin 21–14, 21–19 in the pre-quarters of 2018 Bangka Belitung Indonesia Masters but lost to seed No.7 Lin Yu-hsien 21–12, 20–21 and 14–21 in the Quarter-finals.
Sen participated at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics as the fourth seeded. He settled for boys' singles silver medal after losing to Chinese player Li Shifeng in straight games 15–21, 19–21.[19] He also competed in the mixed team event, and helped team Alpha win the gold medal.[20]
Sen clinched the bronze medal at the BWF Junior World Championships after losing to the eventual champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-finals 22–20, 16–21, 13–21.
Scottish Open (2019)
Sen won the 2019 Belgian International tournament by beating Victor Svendsen 21–14 and 21–15. Sen clinched his first BWF Tour title by winning the Dutch Open men's singles title after beating Yusuke Onodera of Japan. The Dutch Open is a BWF Tour Super 100 tournament. In November 2019, he won the SaarLorLux Open which is a BWF Tour Super 100 tournament held in Saarbrücken, Germany. He defeated China's Weng Hongyang in the final to claim the title.[21]
He won the men's singles title in the 2019 Scottish Open in November, with a victory against Brazilian Ygor Coelho.[22]
Asian Team Championships (2020)
Sen was a member of the Indian team which clinched the bronze medal at 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships.
Sen reached the 2nd round of 2020 All England Open which was his 1st ever BWF Super 1000 Tournament before losing to the champion and world No.1 Viktor Axelsen 17–21 and 18–21. He lost to Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21–15, 7–21 and 15–21 in 2nd round of the 2020 Denmark Open. Sen was seeded as No.2 at 2020 SaarLorLux Open but withdrew due to an injury. The Covid-19 Pandemic restricted him to play any more international BWF Tournaments in the year.
World Championships (2021)
In December, he reached the World Championships semifinals where he lost to compatriot Srikanth Kidambi in a hard-fought match 21–17, 14–21, 17–21 and settled for a bronze medal.[23]
Thomas Cup and Commonwealth Games (2022)
In January, he defeated the reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew in the India Open final, thus clinching his first Super 500 title. He defeated Loh in two straight games 24–22, 21–17.[24] In the German Open, Lakshya defeated World No.1 Viktor Axelsen in the semifinals, but lost the finals to Kunlavut Vitidsarn. He then defeated World No. 3 Anders Antonsen and World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia to reach the finals of the 2022 All England Open.[25] He lost the finals to Viktor Axelsen 10–21, 15–21.[26][27] He subsequently withdrew from the Swiss Open, as he was tired after playing 2 back-to-back BWF tournaments finals.[28] Lakshya Sen was part of the Indian men's team for 2022 Thomas Cup. The team went on to win the Thomas Cup by beating Indonesia 3–0, with Sen winning his match against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.[29] He became Commonwealth champion at 2022 Commonwealth Games by defeating Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia in the final. Sen was also part of the Indian team that won silver in the mixed team event.[30]
Canada Open and Asian Games (2023)
In February, Lakshya Sen was a member of the Indian team that clinched the bronze medal at Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships.
On July 9, Lakshya Sen defeated China's Li Shifeng in straight sets 21-18, 22-20 in the finals and won the 2023 Canada Open in Calgary, Canada.[31] Sen was part of the Indian team which won a silver medal in the men's team event at 2022 Asian games.[32]
Paris Olympics (2024)
Sen participated in the Olympic Games held in Paris. He defeated third seeded Jonatan Christie in the group stage and progressed to the knockout stage. After winning against his compatriot Prannoy H. S. in the round of 16, he defeated Chou Tien-chen in the quarter finals. However he was stopped by the second seeded Viktor Axelsen in the semifinal stage.[33][34] He then finished fourth after losing the bronze medal match to Lee Zii Jia, scripting the best ever performance by a men's badminton player from his country.[35]
Achievements
World Championships
Men's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín, Huelva, Spain |  Srikanth Kidambi |
21–17, 14–21, 17–21 |  Bronze |
Commonwealth Games
Men's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England |  Ng Tze Yong |
19–21, 21–9, 21–16 |  Gold |
Youth Olympic Games
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Tecnópolis, Buenos Aires, Argentina |  Li Shifeng |
15–21, 19–21 |  Silver |
World Junior Championships
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Markham Pan Am Centre, Markham, Canada |  Kunlavut Vitidsarn |
22–20, 16–21, 13–21 | Bronze |
Asia Junior Championships
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | CPB Badminton Training Center, Bangkok, Thailand | Sun Feixiang |
12–21, 16–21 | Bronze |
| 2018 | Jaya Raya Sports Hall Training Center, Jakarta, Indonesia | Kunlavut Vitidsarn |
21–19, 21–18 | Gold |
BWF World Tour (5 titles, 2 runners-up)
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[36] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[37]
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Dutch Open | Super 100 |  Yusuke Onodera |
15–21, 21–14, 21–15 |  Winner |
| 2019 | Hylo Open | Super 100 | Weng Hongyang |
17–21, 21–18, 21–16 | Winner |
| 2022 | India Open | Super 500 |  Loh Kean Yew |
24–22, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2022 | German Open | Super 300 | Kunlavut Vitidsarn |
18–21, 15–21 |  Runner-up |
| 2022 | All England Open | Super 1000 |  Viktor Axelsen |
10–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |
| 2023 | Canada Open | Super 500 | Li Shifeng |
21–18, 22–20 | Winner |
| 2024 | Syed Modi International | Super 300 | Jason Teh |
21–6, 21–7 | Winner |
BWF International Challenge/Series (7 titles, 3 runners-up)
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | India International Series | Lee Zii Jia |
11–13, 11–3, 11–6 | Winner |
| 2017 | Bulgarian Open |  Zvonimir Đurkinjak |
18–21, 21–12, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2017 | India International Series | Chong Yee Han |
21–15, 17–21, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2017 | India International Challenge | Sitthikom Thammasin |
21–15, 14–21, 19–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | India International Challenge | Kunlavut Vitidsarn |
21–15, 21–10 | Winner |
| 2019 | Polish Open | Kunlavut Vitidsarn |
17–21, 14–21 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Belgian International | Victor Svendsen |
21–14, 21–15 | Winner |
| 2019 | Scottish Open |  Ygor Coelho |
18–21, 21–18, 21–19 | Winner |
| 2019 | Bangladesh International | Leong Jun Hao |
22–20, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2021 | Dutch Open | Loh Kean Yew |
12–21, 16–21 | Runner-up |
