Lakshya Sen, hailing from Almora, Uttarakhand, attained World No.1 spot in the World junior ranking list released by Badminton World Federation on Thursday.
The 15-year-old Lakshya, the current junior National champion (under-19), is rated high by many as a potential world beater. Lakshya’s progress has been steady. Having won the bronze medal in the under-17 in BAC championship at Kudus, Indonesia in 2015 he won the bronze in the under-19 badminton Asia Confederation Championships at Thailand in 2016.
Lakshya has also won the Wimbledon Junior, Danish Junior and Swiss Junior in the past. His steady progress in the senior category was highlighted when he won his first International Series title in 2016, beating Malaysian prodigy Zii Jia Lee.
Lakshya has been training in Bangalore at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy since the age of 10 under the watchful eyes of Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar. He has also received support from the Olympic Gold Quest since the age of 11.
He spoke to The Hindu on a variety of issues.
Excerpts:
On transition from junior to senior: It is difficult. But I’ve started playing in the seniors category a couple of years backand I don’t feel a huge difference.
On areas to focus now: I think more than skill, it will be fitness that matters.
On expectations from the National championship: I will try to win the title. I will do my best.
On future tournaments: I will play the German junior and Dutch junior Open, and will also play in the All-India junior & senior tournaments.
