Lin Dan was like any other opponent: Lakshya Sen

Lakshya Sen, the reigning Badminton Asia Junior Championships men's singles (under-19) champion, has already set his sights at the Olympics and World titles. But he is not just dreaming about them. He knows he has to work towards it.

Mixing the junior and senior tournaments in a manner that gives him a smooth transition to take on the giants of world badminton, the 16-year-old shuttler from Almora in Uttarakhand is one marked for the future.
Sen has been a trainee at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru for the last seven years, and emerged as World Junior No. 1 from February 2 to September 6 last year. He aims to hold that rank in the senior category one day.

Sen is elated at the biggest win of his young badminton career so far when he became only the third Indian to win the Asian junior title in Jakarta last Sunday. The celebrations were short-lived. A thanksgiving visit to his coaches and mentors including the founder of PPBA, the legendary Prakash Padukone, and the co-founder, director and chief coach, Vimal Kumar on Tuesday, a day after landing from Jakarta, and distributing of sweets before travelling to Almora on Tuesday night to share the success with his parents.
The PPBA is chalking out his training plan for the next two weeks that will also include his participation in the Vietnam Open BWF Tour Super 100 at Ho Chi Minh City from August 7-12.

Sen comes across as a tad reserved and with few words, a stark contrast to his flourish on the court with the racquet. Vimal says this is very Padukone-like. "He is like Prakash, generally quiet," says Vimal.
"I had a belief that I can win this tournament," Sen told DNA over the phone from Bengaluru, recalling his feat at the Badminton Asia Juniors, his voice barely audible and had to be requested to speak a little louder.

"I had played the opponents in the past and knew what I needed to do to win the tournament. I derive confidence from the way I have played in the past tournaments," he added, this time his voice loud and clear.
Sen was not fit in Jakarta, but held strong throughout to clinch gold. "Every match was tough. I managed to win in straight games except in the third round against the Japanese (Riku Hatano) that went to three games. As I was carrying injury, the recovery part was important. I had time between the matches to recover," said the right-hander.

Sen missed a major part of last year and this year due to injuries. He still managed to work out and stay focussed on his game though he could not enter the court.
"I did a lot of rehab at the academy. When I had shoulder injury, I was focussing more on the lower part of my body and getting my shoulder back. I did a lot of off-court strength workout because I could not play."

Hailing from family of shuttlers – his father Dhirendra Kumar is a badminton coach and his grandfather, late CL Sen was a national-level player – it was natural that Sen took up to badminton from a young age. An eye for talent, Vimal spotted Sen at a tournament and roped him at the PPBA.
And, Sen has not looked back since. Vimal has always spoken highly about Sen and says he is the next big thing in Indian badminton. "Watch out for him," Vimal would often say.

Sen idolises on Chinese former world No. 1 Chen Long and India's own Padukone. "I like Long's strokes and his reach on the court," said Sen.
Though he could not exchange notes with Long – "I just saw him play in the Thomas Cup" – the youngster surprised the world by stretching legendary Chinese Lin Dan to three games in two successive matches in May.

A look at the YouTube videos that has a compilation of his rallies against some of the seniors, most notable being former World and Olympic champion, Lin Dan. The manner in which he covers the court, makes some remarkable retrieves, comes up with jump smashes and even catches Lin Dan off guard with cross-court placements are glimpses of Sen's talent.

"I was very excited to play Lin Dan. It was a great learning experience for me. I did a lot of things playing against him. Before the match began, I was excited but once it started, it was like playing any other opponent. I must admit that I was a bit nervous, though," Sen said of his first meeting with Lin Dan in the New Zealand Open in May this year, in which he lost 21-15 15-21 12-21 in an hour and seven minutes.

Their second meeting came in three weeks in the Thomas Cup in Thailand when Sen went down 21-16 9-21 8-21 in 51 minutes. "Both were good tournaments to play. It was a good experience for me to play him two times. The second time I met him, I was more prepared because I had played him once before. I knew what he was going to be," said Sen.

Though the two did not exchange much words, Sen said: "Lin Dan told me 'well played'." Sen's prized possession is a Lin Dan autographed T-shirt he took after the match.

A class 12 student through correspondence, Sen is a studious boy. Vimal said that if he had not taken up badminton, he would have taken a professional course. "He scores good marks, he is a good student," said Vimal.

A football and cricket enthusiast, Sen learns from other sporting heroes including shooter Abhinav Bindra and cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "I have read their books and learnt that one has to do hard work and be patient for the results. They will not come overnight," said Sen.

Padukone's advice to Sen is "to stay grounded". Sen also carried messages from Indonesian legend Rudy Hartono, who presented the medals in Jakarta last Sunday. Padukone modelled his game on Hartono and has been his contemporary. "Rudy was enquiring about Prakash with Lakshya," said Vimal, who is cautious about Sen's future.

"He should qualify for major senior events. It is a process. He needs to remain injury-free. The senior circuit is tough. His strength and other things need to improve," said the former chief national coach.

The entire future is Sen's.

LAKSHYA SEN BOXES

76 — Current world ranking in men's singles
6 — Current world ranking in junior men's singles

Did You Know?

Lakshya Sen held the junior World No. 1 ranking continuously from February 2 to September 6, 2017

Career Highs:

July 2018: Winner, Badminton Asia Junior Championships, Jakarta
December 2017: Runner-up, Tata Open India International Challenge, Mumbai
November 2017: Winner, India International Series, Hyderabad
October 2017: Quarterfinalist, World Junior Championships, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
September 2017: Quarterfinalist, Vietnam Open Grand Prix
August 2017: Winner, Bulgarian Open International Series
May 2017: Quarterfinalist, International Series, Surabaya, Indonesia
March 2017: Runner-up, German Junior Open, Berlin
March 2017: Semifinalist, Dutch Junior Open, Haarlem
November 2016: Winner, India International Series, Hyderabad
November 2016: Pre-quarterfinalist, World Junior Championships, Bilbao, Spain