Lakshya Sen is an Indian badminton player who is known for becoming the youngest player to qualify for the 2022 All England Open.
Wiki/Biography
Lakshya Sen was born on Thursday, 16 August 2001 (age 20 years; as of 2021) in Almora, Uttarakhand. His zodiac sign is Leo. He attended the Beersheba Senior Secondary School, Haldwani, Uttarakhand. Later, he got admission to Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Bengaluru.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 10″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Body Measurements (approx.): Chest: 40 Inches, Waist: 32 Inches, Biceps: 12 Inches
Family
Parents & Siblings
Lakshya’s father’s name is Dhirendra K Sen, who is a badminton coach. His mother’s name is Nirmala Dhirendra Sen, and she is a teacher. He has an elder brother, Chirag Sen, who is an International Badminton Player.
Lakshya Sen’s family
Signature/Autograph
Lakshya Sen pointing at his signature on a whiteboard
Badminton Career
Lakshay is a right-handed shuttler who played his debut match in 2016 in Badminton Asia Junior Championships held in Bangkok, Thailand. He took part in the Junior World Championship, and she also competed at the senior international level. In 2017, he took part in the BWF World Junior and Vietnam Open. In 2018, he became a champion at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships. Sen participated in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics. In 2019, he won the Dutch Open. In November 2019, he won the SaarLorLux Open. In 2020, he reached the second round of 2020 All England Open. In December 2021, he reached the World Championships semifinals. In 2022, he reached the All England Open.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- He won a bronze medal at Junior Asian Championship in 2016.
- He won the men’s singles title at the India International Series.
- In February 2017, he was ranked number one junior singles player in BWF World Junior ranking.
- In 2018, he won the bronze medal at the Junior World Championship.
- In 2018, he won gold medals at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships in the boys’ singles and at the Summer Youth Olympics in the mixed team event.
- In 2019, he won the men’s singles at Dutch Open.
- In November 2019, he won the SaarLorLux Open.
- In November 2019, he won the men’s singles title in the 2019 Scottish Open.
- In 2020, he was a member of the Indian team that won the 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships.
- In December 2021, he won a bronze medal at World Championships.
- In 2022, he reached the finals of the 2022 All England Open.
Facts/Trivia
- Apart from playing badminton, he likes to travel a lot.
- When Lakshay was ten years old, he went to Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) with his brother, Chirag to take admission at the academy. In an interview, Lakshya’s father talked about how he got admission to the academy and said,
In 2010 he was 9-9.5 years old and there was a tournament for the Under-13 age group category in Bangalore and we went there to take part in it. Since he was a kid I thought he won’t be eligible but I requested Vimal sir and he was really impressed with him. It was during the final stage when the progress actually happened. His elder brother, who was also taking part won the tournament so Prakash sir interacted with us and offered help.”
- One of the media houses published a picture of Lakshay when he won a tournament in Singapore in 2011.
Lakshay Sen when he was ten years old
- When Lakshay was twelve years old, he gave an interview in which he said that he wished to play the Olympics when he matures.
Lakshay Sen as a kid
- In 2014, he used to practice Badminton with Saina Nehwal who had shifted to Bangalore and joined the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Bengaluru. In an interview, Vimal Kumar, Lakshya’s coach revealed that Lakshya was the only student in the academy who could match the energy of Saina during the practice sessions.
- In 2018, he posted a picture on Instagram in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him for winning the Youth Olympics.
Lakshya Sen with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- In August 2021, he suffered from a stomach infection due to which he lost the first round of selection trials and did not get selected for the Indian badminton team.
- On 19 March 2022, after he won a silver medal in the All England Badminton Championships 2022, he became the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980, 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001), and Saina Nehwal (2015) to reach the finals of the Championships. In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Gandhi and MP of Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, Anurag Thakur appreciated his game on Twitter. He practised with Viktor Axelsen in Dubai before the All England Badminton Championships 2022.
Proud of you @lakshya_sen! You’ve shown remarkable grit and tenacity. You put up a spirited fight. Best wishes for your future endeavours. I am confident you will keep scaling new heights of success.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 20, 2022
- Reportedly, Lakshay used to feel bad and get upset after losing a match when he was a kid. In an interview, he talked about this and said,
Compared to my junior days I am a little more patient. Trying to rally more. I need to improve this more for sure, but there are a lot more things to learn, but from then to now, it is a difference in my game. That I make the effort to play better strokes from the back, not just go all out with smashes… trying to build up a point. In the senior circuit, everyone is fit and the shuttle keeps coming back. You have to play long rallies, long matches. Preparing for that, I have improved my fitness.”
- He is a passionate animal lover and often posts pictures of them on social media.
Lakshay Sen posing with a dog
- In 2022, he was featured in Forbes India 30 Under 30.
Lakshya Sen featured in Forbes India
