Lakshya ends India’s 53-year wait
NEW DELHI: At 19-18 in the second game against junior World No 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, Lakshya Sen dived to recover a shuttle, hurting his finger. The 16-year-old called the doctor and took his time to regain composure. Lakshya then won two intense rallies to close out the match 21-19, 21-18, winning the Asian Junior Championships title in Jakarta on Sunday.
For his coach Vimal Kumar, that time-out was the key. “The Thailand boy was catching up. He had won two points when Lakshya fell and took a clever break. He gathered his thoughts and pulled off the next three points brilliantly,” said Vimal.
“Laskhya played well in all crucial stages. In the first game, he was down 7-12 and then 18-19. But he pulled out very well. I was worried because he has lost from such positions in the past,” added Vimal who spotted Lakshya in 2010 and has trained him at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy. He is only the third Indian and second male to lift the title. Gautam Thakkar (1965) and PV Sindhu (2012) had won the prestigious tournament earlier.
A shy and unassuming hill boy, Lakshya hails from a badminton family in Almora. His father DK Sen is a badminton coach while grandfather CL Sen also played the sport. Both Lakshya and elder brother Chirag took to badminton. Vimal noticed the spark in the brothers at a national event and brought them to the academy in Bangalore.
“Laskhya was too young but he
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I had to tweak my training as I suffered shin splints. I had to take pills to curb the pain. LAKSHYA SEN, On the win
was good for his age. He wanted to stay back with his brother and I asked their father to let both the kids train at our academy,” Vimal recalls.
Lakshya reminds Vimal of his close friend and mentor Prakash Padukone. “Laskhya’s style is a bit different but in temperament, he reminds me of Prakash Padukone. He is quiet and shy but receptive and smart.”
Under the guidance of Padukone and Vimal, the brothers started to make their mark at world junior level. Chirag, three years older to Lakshya, was No 2 in junior world rankings. Lakshya bettered him last year, reaching the top spot. Since then, he has been making waves at the senior level too. He took a game off Lin Dan at the New Zealand Open recently.
Going into the Asian Junior Championships, Lakshya, seeded sixth, was one of the favourites for the title. In the quarter-finals, he defeated the current top junior Chinese Li Shifeng and took out fourth seed Indonesian Ikhsan Leonardo Rumbay next. In the final, Lakshya was up against an opponent who has been ruling the world junior circuit for over a year and had replaced him at the top of the rankings last year.
“Laskhya has wristy shots as well as power and variations. He needs to get better physically.”
But Vimal says Lakshya is showing early spark. Quite like Saina and Sindhu.