Lakshya Sen: The rise and rise of Lakshya Sen

(This story originally appeared in on Mar 21, 2022)

From being dejected at not being selected to the Indian team, to becoming the toast of the nation, it’s been a remarkable transformation for Lakshya Sen in less than six months.

The loss in the first round of the selection trials last August rankled the new poster boy of Indian badminton, but he was clearly below-par then as he was down with a stomach infection.

Hurt and very frustrated, the 20-year-old from Almora was at a loss when he got an invite from Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen to train with him in Dubai.

Axelsen had shifted his training base from Denmark to Dubai after winning the Olympic gold in Tokyo. He invited five shuttlers – reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew Singapore, Brian Yang of Canada, Toby Penty of Denmark, Felix Burestedt of Sweden and Lakshya – to train with him at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex.

“Lakshya was upset at that moment. I told him that these things happen to fringe players. You should be like Srikanth, Sindhu and Saina. Then this sort of selection issues would not matter,” coach Vimal Kumar recalled telling his ward.

“We told him to go to Dubai and Lakshya benefited from training there. He was inspired by how Axelsen organised everything on his own. Lakshya was on his own in European tournament, where he learnt how to react to particular different situations. That is actually helping him to react and change strategy immediately on the court,” Vimal told TOI on Sunday.

Lakshya and Loh benefited the most from that camp. While Loh went on to become the world champion, Lakshya won bronze at the Worlds, clinched India Open Super 500 title and has now reached the final of the All England (to be changed if he wins).

Prakash Padukone’s radical move in 2011 – to graduate all the senior players at the Padukone Academy and focus only on training juniors – also helped Lakshya, Vimal said. The Academy was converted into a National Age-Group Training Centre. Though Vimal was cold to the idea initially, Prakash and the other partner Vivek, were certain that the idea would work.

The academy then conducted a U-13 tournament. DK Sen came with his two sons – Lakshya and Chirag – and both the boys joined the academy.

Saina’s hand in developing Lakshya

Saina Nehwal’s decision to shift base to Bangalore in September 2014 also benefited Lakshya. It was a great experience for the boys as they got a chance to spar with Saina at the peak of her prowess. While Saina could easily defeat the rest, Lakshya was the only one who always got the better of her during training. “Saina’s arrival actually helped all the younger ones. Lakshya was the only one who used to beat her in practice. These things motivated him a lot,” Vimal said.